An Update from Poland

The past few days have been fun. Saw the Black Madonna, ate a lot of good food..... that’s about it! The temperature is a lot like Milwaukee, got some days and cold others - YaYa

Auschwitz

Today I was able to experience visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau. 

 It was a memorable and moving experience- although I’ve seen numerous movies, seen photos, and read books about the Holocaust, seeing the camps really was completely different. There is nothing like seeing Auschwitz. There is nothing like seeing Birkenau. Nothing taught in World History class could have moved me like this. 

The massive size of Birkenau alone shows the complete disregard that the Nazis had for human lives. The “bathrooms”, the bunks, the washrooms- they all made sure that the people in the camps were stripped of all of their dignity. They were not treated like human beings, rather like cattle. Visiting Auschwitz, I could horrifically see how downright effective the camps were made to be. It’s terrible how they were made to be that way.

The lack of respect shown by other visitors shows me that we still need to be educated on the events that happened there. There was scratched graffiti on the walls, people bringing young and loud children, and people eating sandwiches on the tour. Straight up blatant disrespect. We need to be educated and respectful on the events of the Holocaust, it is our history. 

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

- YaYa 

Someone found GusGus!!

EDIT!!!!- Around 8 two amazing people saw my facebook post about our missing fat little kitty, GusGus. They went on a walk by Tenuta's SPECIFICALLY to look for him. Amazing people. They saw him in a driveway and approached him. He ran under the porch but they grabbed him. They called the number listed on the post and called us. We rushed outside and when I saw him I screamed "OMG". Yeah, it scared him and he ran under our neighbors porch. After digging a hole, getting covered in dirt, a bottle of catnip, fishfood, and cat treats, at 8:17 he was placed in our house and immediately plopped on our rug, and cuddled us. The other cats followed him around and smelled him to make sure it was there brother. He ate, drank and purred because he was home. (He'll get a bath soon, he smells like dirt lol) Thank you everyone for your prayers, and support. And TO THE GIRLS WHO FOUND HIM, WE LOVE YOU!!!  

- JUNIE

 Our beloved grey and black mackerel tabby escaped our house a couple nights back. We hung up flyers around Bayview; Classic slice, Mobil, and Bp. We've seen miracles about finding pets in this group so we decided to try. He's grey, black with accents of white forming his common mackerel tabby pattern (almost like tiger stripes) and is microchipped. One of his eyes is cloudy as a result of glaucoma and he is heavyset. He is VERY friendly and frankly, is probably happy wherever he is as long as he is being fed lol but our other cats and family miss him. Please work your magic. If you see him please contact 414-XXXX or 414-XXXX

THERE IS A REWARD IF YOU FIND HIM

YaYa Leaves for Poland

A little matchy matchy in gray, I know. What a faux pas. But Smiley and I just wished YaYa a safe and healthy trip to Poland. We love you GC!

Spooky or Nah?

Hold the picture of this 1979 album up to a mirror and you'll see "911" written above the Twin Towers - and as seen from a plane window too. No lie

College Orientation with YaYa

College orientation! @divinatixn

The Snapple Attack

Long long ago, after carpooling together to UWM for the year, my friend Tre and I got into an argument in his car and he threatended to hit me with a glass Snapple bottle. 

 Cut to today. 

 What now b%%^h? Whatchu gonna do now Tre? LOL

Father's Day

Love you Dad! - Junie

The Annual Father Son Hike

I'm with Smiley, Tre, and TJ at our annual Father's Day Hike and BBQ at Hawthorn Glen.. Unfortunately, no group photo this year. But we did have a turkey selfie, so there is that.

D-Day

I wouldn't be me if I failed to acknowledge that today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the pivotal invasion of Normandy in WWII. As always, I'm grateful to #TheGreatestGeneration for all they did for this nation and the cause of freedom. #ThankYou

LuLu gets her nose pierced

Yeah, so this happened today. What can I say. At least it's not a tattoo.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Sweet 16 to my OJ aka LuLu aka Livvie Lou aka Centerpiece!

The Trampoline Has Left Us

Hold up. Something's missing from this picture . . . After 12 years, a whopping $75 investment on Craigslist, and a mere one set of stitches, our beloved trampoline is no more. RIP you served us well.

Shazam!

Hold up - at the suggestion of her Mama, you drove your daughter to a theater an hour away, in Illinois, just because you promised her you'd see Shazam together and that's the only place it's playing within 75 miles?? #Yup #OfCourse #WeLoveThatGirl #Shazam

The Glenn Miller Orchestra

On Friday with dad to see the Glenn Miller Orchestra! 🎶📷 - Junie @ Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall

Boo

Spare me your "thank you for the great season!" posts about the Bucks. In the end they were what all Wisconsin teams are: the best in the game, until it's time to prove it. It's just another #Fail, nothing more.

Bart Starr

RIP Bart Starr, Packers legend and all around good Joe.

Don't Touch My Leftovers

I won’t name names. But my leftovers from my favorite restaurant were stolen out of the fridge. I may go to jail today because I honestly want to stab the mf. Don’t steal an alcoholic’s vodka, and DONT steal this fat bitch’s leftovers!!! - Lisa

Junie and I see the Glenn Miller Orchestra!

The lady behind us is quite the charmer eh? 

Photobomber aside, I was very happy to take Junie to see the Glenn Miller Orchestra play downtown. Oh, I know what you're thinking. "Poor thing, being dragged around and forced to pretend to like big band to get affection from her Father."

Well, I'm sure her interest IS 70% derived from my love of Big Band, just as mine comes from listening to it with my Grandpa and my Dad. But I assure you, while it's not her primary musical choice, she enjoys it, and often plays Glenn Miller as she's getting ready to sleep. 

I bought her this t-shirt to commemorate the event. 

After the show she was too scared to ask for pictures with the musicans, but a few blocks away from the venue I decided I would not let her indulge her fear and live in regret, so we turned around and got these pictures. That's the female vocalist (Hannah, IIRC) and the bandleader/MC. 

It was a great time, with great music and great company. Alas, they did NOT play her Glenn Miller fave, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree."

Maybe next time kiddo. 

Goodbye Doris Day

RIP Doris Day

Happy Mother's Day

Happy mothers day to my mom, the most genuine, kindhearted soul. You've taught me what is and isn't right, taught me who to trust and who not to, and though there are moments were we fight, your always there for me and I'll appreciate that for the rest of my life. 🌹 

For all the other wonderful women I know who have spent their life devoted to their children as my mom has, like my grandmothers, aunts, and cousins, thank you and happy mothers day. - Junie

Happy Mothers Day

Happy mothers day to my mom, the most genuine, kindhearted soul. You've taught me what is and isn't right, taught me who to trust and who not to, and though there are moments were we fight, your always there for me and I'll appreciate that for the rest of my life. 🌹 For all the other wonderful women I know who have spent their life devoted to their children as my mom has, like my grandmothers, aunts, and cousins, thank you and happy mothers day. - Junie 

At O'Hare

We've been zealously guarding our seats for over an hour. Olivia has been on the ground this whole time but delayed on board her plane. Tolerable, but not fun.

A Request

This is from YaYa (please don't tag her in comments, so as not to embarrass her friend.) Lisa and I will be contributing to this worthy cause, but it's YaYa that stepped up, and it's YaYa that will be shouldering the majority of the cost. If you feel like contributing, God bless. Just drop a line in the comments and we'll DM. UPDATE: my pride demands I say, just to be clear, YaYa's prom was and is fully paid for, this request is SOLELY for the girl with family troubles.

BN peeps - ran into (manager) Stephanie at the Girl Scout Service Center, where she runs the gift shop.