Sorry that I have been out of the loop for a bit. The end of March was a bit hectic. Our house turned into a Spring Break destination with Roz and Luke coming up for their time off and Mom coming up for the following week for hers. It was great fun having them here and I am now trying to get used to the quiet of the house.

In between the visitors, we celebrated the hubby’s birthday. I planned a Birthday Extravaganza weekend involving a mini spa day, a nice lunch at our favorite pizzeria, a little gift shopping, and taking him to see Hot Tub Time Machine. (Not as good as The Hangover, but better than I anticipated.) Sunday we went out for brunch and then we went to do some Wisconsin exploration by checking out The House on the Rock. This place is CRAAAAZY! Words cannot fully describe. . . World’s largest carousel, robotic orchestras, The Infinity Room, a larger than life size BLUE WHALE STATUE! It’s like Willy Wonka moved to Wisconsin and built a house. I want to take everyone I know here. Please come visit so I have an excuse to go back. Seriously.

We also went down to The Ponderosa to hang out with the fam for Easter Weekend. Got in a trip to Pepe’s and brought back some Easter Candy. Score!

So you can see I’ve been a bit caught up with people/things lately. Now the I’m getting back into the groove again, I promise I’ll be making more regular postings.

Last week was an extremely hard one. My Uncle passes away unexpectedly and last week was the wake and funeral. This was my mother’s brother, Uncle Gene. Always the character, he lived his life impetuously, but without regret. He was a good man and I will miss him dearly. It was a heart-wrenching week, but my family banded together to get through it. I am proud of this and thank God that we have one another.

RIP Uncle Gene. I love you.

I had a wonderful birthday weekend in Chicago thanks to my hubby, family, and friends. Highlights include a chi-chi dinner at Blackbird followed by some VIP celebratory action at The Wit – what an amazing view! A lovely afternoon at The Modern Wing followed by a fun family dinner. I feel truly blessed.

Well, I had a fantastic time in Columbus visiting the girls and seeing the sweet babies. My only complaint was that I wish I could have stayed longer. It was hard to leave. It made me realize how much I miss the companionship of other women. Not that I don’t love Shawn, but girl time is much needed. I only wish that I could find some girl friends around Madison. Either that or start my campaign for getting the girls to move here . . . or at least visit.

Sadly, when I got back in town, I received a major smack down from a wicked cold. (Thinking that I might have caught something during my travels.) It hit me hard starting on Friday night and I am only now just feeling back to normal. I am hoping that I don’t have any relapses. So far the hubby hasn’t shown any signs of infection, so that is good news.

Hoping now that I get back on the mend, I can get back into the gym and also start working on a few projects I have in mind. . . more details to come.

Happy 4th Anniversary, Shawn. You always know how to bring a smile to my face.

Well, the Torto clan made the trip up to Madison for Thanksgiving. It wasn’t quite as hectic and stressful this year. I think partly because Shawn’s mom and brother weren’t here (Less performance anxiety and fewer mouths to feed.) and also because I had it last year, so knew how to better handle things. Happy to report that there was no fighting or food related calamities.

Roz and Luke came up early on the train Tuesday evening. Mom, Dad, Ash, and Mike came up Thursday morning and returned Friday afternoon. Roz and Luke stayed until Sunday, when I drove them back down to the Chi. It was so nice to be able to have them stay longer. We went to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox -which totally lived up to its name – went to chop down the Christmas Tree, and just basically hung out and had a good time.

I really enjoyed hosting Thanksgiving. It was so nice to not have to travel! Plus, we rarely get to entertain like we did in Columbus, so it was great to be able to have a house full of people again.

Hoping that everyone had as nice of a Turkey Day as I did.

Holy crap, Christmas it almost here. Like less than six weeks away! Not good, people. How am I going to lovingly craft homemade gifts for everyone, bake a dozen different kinds of homemade cookies, wrap presents with loving care, write witty, individualized holiday cards, hand craft ornaments for the tree. . . . who am I kidding. I should just book a flight to the Bahamas now.

Yes, I am an insane person. I hand made a costume for my dog. But isn’t he cute? Plus Walter won first place for “Scariest Costume” at the doggie daycare/boarding place that we take him. All proceeds went to the local K-9 unit, so I feel like I am justified in my delusions, since it all went to charity.

Roz and the nephew came up to celebrate Halloween Wisconsin-style.We’ll be carving pumpkins, getting some food together for the area food drive, attending the Halloween parade, and of course, trick-or-treating. Hoping to need a wheelbarrow for all the candy he gets.

Have a happy Halloween!

Happy Fall, y’all! I am so happy for it to officially be Autumn. I don’t know about you, but it is my favorite season. Snuggly sweaters, beautiful crisp weather, the smell of burning leaves, apple cider, the list goes on and on.

Well, it was a hectic week, but I survived. We had a really nice time with the family here.
Highlights included a trip to the Dane Co. Farmers Market, everyone falling in love with Glass Nickel pizza, a trip to Spring Green to visit his grandmother’s cousin, and watching Gran Tornino together. Only major debacle was that after brewing four consecutive pots on Sunday morning, the coffee maker couldn’t handle brewing a full pot of coffee. I think that the old girl blew a gasket or something. Will need to rent an industrial one next time they visit. All in all, I’m calling this one a success.

The family left on Friday morning, immediately afterwards Shawn and I drove down to Chicago so he could do a little competition shopping for work. We hit Oak St. and Michigan Ave. and had lunch at Fred’s the restaurant at the newly opened Barney’s. After shopping we met my sister, nephew, and some friends for dinner. Good pizza, some Chianti (four bottles!) and a ton of laughs. Back to Madison on Saturday morning to spend the remainder of the weekend in relaxation/recovery mode and just enjoying the quiet house. Aaaahhhh.