Want

Christmas?

A Walk with My Godson

Went to Tracy'ss house and took TJ for a walk with YaYa, Smiley, and Juine (or "girl" as TJ calls her)

Dropping Supplies off at School

This is Lulu's classroom:

History Repeats Itself

Horrendous news from a former co-worker: the pool at Job Prior was the scene of a 12 year old's drowning Friday night. It's the same pool that was the scene of the drowning in '06 and it brings back a ton of bad memories. Condolences to the family.

Laura's Family Hair Care

-You know that great $5 haircut place on Greenfield in West Allis? They've opened another location in Milwaukee, at 2018 W Layton Ave. Same quality, same low price. "Laura's Family Hair Care" open M-Sat from 9-6. :)

An Update on my Dad

Just before ten last night I spoke to my Dad. His heartbeat is still slow, but they haven't determined a cause. Dad mentioned the collapse might have been because of his blood pressure meds, but I'm not sure if that's coming from the doctors or his own thoughts on the matter. Anyway, he was in good spirits and after they implant a heart monitor under his skin today, he may be sent home Thursday. :)

My Dad is in the Hospital

Yesterday (Monday) my father collapsed at work, striking his head hard enough to get stitches. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and remains there tonight. Prayers and well wishes appreciated.

* * * 

No updates yet, other than his heartbeat is slow and he is on a heart monitor. No cause determined, and he will remain there another night.

Doctor Who - in theaters!

I took YaYa to see the season premiere of Doctor Who at Marcus Theatres Southshore tonight. 30 years ago I could never have imagined having a kid that loved Doctor Who as much as I do (well, almost as much; like most new generation Whovians she lacks an appreciation of the classic era), Nor, watching it on PBS on a b&W TV in the kitchen, could I ever have pictured it on the big screen! 

 Kudos to Steven Moffat on another great script. It was Peter Capaldi's first appearance, and I think he makes a grand Doctor. As for the mysterious woman at the end, the one masterminding events of the Clara era, I'm thinking either Romani (if she's good) or the Rani (if she's evil).

I like 4- that's classic. Jeesh. MATT IS BETTER -YaYa

One of the many Who related slides that played in lieu of trailers before tonight's show.

A Memory from Yaya (summer school)

omg my face xD

 not to mention i look horrible :c

BUT ITS FUNNY SO IM SHARING IT - YaYa

That is Correct

Junie is playing catch in the house when her friend misses the ball. Scolds Junie: "Only play ball in the house if you can play ball".

Maybe I did better in my draft than I thought. Yahoo has awarded my team the "Best Draft" medal, given to "the team with the most projected season points based on weekly optimal starting lineups"

The Draft

15 minutes until my fantasy draft. There was a Yahoo! outage and I wasn't sure if it was my comp or the site, so to be safe I moved to a second location. Oh, the pressure!

News

Suge Knight was just shot 6 times at a pre-VMA party held by Chris Brown

The Ice Bucket Challenge

As slow as I am to jump on a bandwagon, I'm even more leery of cutting its tires once it's on the road . . . but this Ice Bucket Challenge nonsense has got to stop. The initial PR surge was great, but that was then. Now? Just donate to ALS research privately and shut up about it, or at the very least don't post a video of yourself getting soaked and then state you didn't donate a dime. Then what was the damn point? #nominatemesoIcanbreakthechainandstopthemadness

Summer School 2014

None of my kids were required to take summer school - their grades were good - but it was a good way to keep their minds sharp and their bellies full (they got lunch and breakfast LOL) Plus it was only 8/10ths of a mile from home, and I enjoyed walking with them to school each morning. It only ran for the month of July, and was interrupted many times by prior commitments. 

None-the-less, they were far from pleased with the decision. The smiles here are forced (and Lu doesn't even seem to have tried)

Once at school, they met many old friends from both their current school and their old one. 

This makes me Smile

Good to see these guys get along, regardless of their politics. 

Homicide Hunter

Watching a brand new "Homicide Hunter with Lt. Joe Kenda" #HomicideHunter.

An Important Quote

"Expect people to be better than they are; it helps them to become better. But don't be disappointed when they are not; it helps them to keep trying." - Merry Browne

The Giver and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Taking advantage of $5 Tuesdays at Marcus Theatres, I sent YaYa and her friend to see "The Giver" and PD and OJ to see "TMNT". All reported their respective movies were "awesome". Afterwards I treated the family and YaYa's friend to dinner at Denny's, courtesy of their "Kids eat Free" Tuesdays promotion : )

James Foley

CNN is confirming that it is American James Foley, a 1996 Marquette graduate, who was beheaded on the video released by ISIS. May he RIP. And Palestinian's have launched rockets into Israel (again), ending the truce that had been in place.

Odd

It's nearly the end of August and I still have to stop and think about whether it is 2013 or 2014.

Junie's Hearing

We've been saying for years that Junie had hearing problems,but on several occasions we were told it was fine, and that she just had an attention problem. 

Two months ago our concerns were validated. An ENT said she has 50% hearing loss in her right ear, 30% in the left. She was put on some medicine to decrease the fluid in her ear and for awhile it worked. Once during this time, at a restaurant that was moderately busy, she wigged out, saying the noise was just too much. To her, after 6+ years of muted sound, normal noise was overwhelming and chaotic. 

Anyhow, tomorrow she goes in for surgery to put tubes in her ears. No big deal (Smiley had them already) but she's a little upset. She says she doesn't want to hear better and that she's just fine the way she is, but that's just nerves. 

No real point or ending to this post, just rambling . . .

Question

Is anyone going to Indian Summer Sept 6-7th? I hope to be there for an amateur boxing tournament. Maybe we can meet up and grab an Indian taco.

Not cool

A few months ago we switched pediatricians. We had no choice - our old one went to prison for insurance fraud. Such is life in the big city. 

I think it's time to switch again. 

YaYa had a 9:30 appt this morning. I called at 8:45 to ask if it was for her knee, an ailment that has passed and doesn't warrant another appointment. It turned out it was a vaccination appointment, and after verifying the time I told them I'd see them in half an hour. 

When we got there at 9:25 they said it was a 9 o'clock appt, that they'd billed her as a no show, and that we'd have to reschedule.

Hellz no. I told them about the call. "You record the calls, right? Go play it back."

This gum snapping Jersey Shore reject raises her palm to me and says "Sir, DO NOT be difficult with me."

Again, hellz no. 

After some discussion, she went in the back, became contrite, and said they'd "fit her in".

While we're sitting in the waiting room I overhear her and the other receptionist talking about how "big guys always try to bully" them.

I turned to GC. "Dude, was I out of line? Did I even raise my voice?"

She shook her head. "No, you didn't. And Mom would've went off"

Then the nurse comes out with some paperwork and says the whole appointment was an error, and that she's not due for a shot at all. 

This is the second time in the four months we've been patients that I've had an issue, and Lisa had one too. 

The heck with that.

Anna's wedding on Honey BooBoo was truly beautiful and almost brought tear to my eyes. Congratulations Anna and Michael! #HIGHSIX

College For Kids 2013

Did you read the College for Kids post about this summer's experience? Well, when I was writing it I discovered I'd forgotten to post about last year (2013). So here we go :)

Here's the beautiful lakefront while en route to UWM

Here's the dance recital that closed out LuLu's class

Here's our visit to Eeyore's house: 

Here's the finale of YaYa's acting class: 

And her dance class (with the same teacher as Olivia). Note that I'm sans beard - an every-five years occurrence. 

Here's Junie in the car making a farting noise with something she made in class LOL

and waiting in the Union for her siblings 

and out for dinner after class