Halloween

I will be waiting tables tonight while Einar is at home passing out candy to trick-or-treaters.  He has decided not to give candy out unless the kid says, "Trick-or-treat."  He will prompt them by asking if there's something he can help them with.  He is dressed up like Jim Carrey in the movie Fun With Dick and Jane, which means he's wearing jeans, t-shirt, flannel shirt, and knitted winter hat.  Not very scary.  But it's in the spirit of Halloween.

My dad used to dress up for Halloween to hand out candy when I was a kid.  And a few times 

when I was in high school, I dressed up, too, and helped.  It was fun!  One year we even sat outside perfectly still, like Halloween decorations.  Dad had one of those scooper type shovels with a bowl of candy across his lap.  As kids would make their way toward the front door, ignoring us as mere decorations, Dad would slowly move the shovel and bowl toward them as he said, "Take one, please."  A couple of times a kid would take off running back to the driveway where his/her parent was waiting.  Sometimes they could be convinced to come back and get some 

candy; other times they just kept their eyes on us as they went to the next house.  It is one of the best Halloween memories I have.

J-O-G

I don't know when or why I started doing this, but for some reason, I usually spell the word jog instead of say it when I tell Einar that's what I'm going to do.  This morning I got up early and headed out for a j-o-g in the dark.  I decided that I would turn left when I got to Lake Mendota so I could jog through Maple Bluff, where the governor's mansion is.  There's a hill in Maple Bluff that's one of my favorite places in Madison.  The houses are set back from the road, and there are a lot of trees, so it doesn't really feel like you are in the middle of town.  Until you get to the top of the hill.  That's where you are able to see the lake again, and across the lake, you can see downtown Madison and the Capitol building.  Spectacular!

This Google maps street view shows the hill.  You can follow that scooter to the top of the hill (by clicking on the south arrow), where the road will turn left.  Unfortunately, you can't see the view well, but you can see the Maple Bluff area.

View Larger Map

New Roads

Growing up in Milton, Wisconsin, there were frequent, almost daily trips to nearby Janesville.  When I was in high school, one of the roads from Milton to Janesville was torn up and then redone.  A day or so after it was finished, my dad and I were heading to Janesville to run some errands, and my dad asked me, "What do your friends think of this road?"  I was driving, so I glanced quickly in his direction and then returned my eyes to the road.  I replied, "Um, I don't know what they think of it."  He laughed before joking, "You mean you don't talk about the quality of the roads with your friends?!?!"  I told him that no, in fact, my friends and I spent no time talking about roads.  He and I laughed and laughed about the absurdity of a group of high school kids talking about this topic.

I still can't drive on a newly finished road without thinking of my dad.  In fact, I have called him more than once when I've been on a road trip to let him know how great a particular stretch of road is.  Einar and I even laughed about this during our recent trip to Minnesota, commenting to each other and laughing about how nice the new 35W bridge is!  It's amazing to me how often this topic has come up in conversation during my adult life, and each time it does, I laugh.

To Minnesota!

Einar and I left Madison around 3:30 Saturday afternoon to head to Minnesota for the baptism of my good friend Becky's baby on Sunday morning. We drove to Minneapolis, where we stayed with Einar's brother Obed and his wife Megan. Sunday morning we were up early and on the road at 7:15 to make it to Saint Cloud for the 9am worship service. It was a lovely service with a lot of music and two baptisms. After some time with Becky and Chuck and their baby as well as their extended families, we got back in the car and returned to Obed and Megan's before meeting Einar's aunt and uncle and cousins for an early supper. We enjoyed a leisurely supper filled with lots of talking and laughing! We met up with Obed and Megan and went to a very nice dessert bar in Uptown Minneapolis (Zeno). Yum, yum! Einar's friend Bob met us there, too, so it was a good chance to see him, even though it was really brief. We were up early again this morning and on the road at 7:15 to return to Madison. Wow! Short trip. Busy, but oh so fun and filled with family and friends.

Highlights:
hanging with Obed and Megan
seeing Becky, Chuck, Lexie, and Gracie
dinner with Steve, Cheryl, Kristin, Matt, Karl, Eva, and Andrew
eating creme brulee
driving across the new 35W bridge
experiencing the first snow in Minnesota AND Wisconsin, one day apart

The Peanut Killer

Last Thanksgiving, my niece Hannah, my nephew Noble, my niece Disa, my brother Erik, my brother-in-law Bruce, and I made a short horror movie called "The Peanut Killer."  I shot and edited it.  Einar helped behind the scenes, and both of my parents also made appearances.  I don't know why it took me so long to actually get it finished, but I finally did!  Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

 

I'm not sure whether or not we'll be making another movie this Thanksgiving, but if we do, I promise to get it done and posted in a more timely manner.

Grievance

I got a letter yesterday stating that my grievance letter regarding my denied colonoscopy had been received.  There will be a grievance committee hearing November 5.  I am allowed to be there in person, which I plan to do.  I just need to get a time scheduled with them.  The question is, do I try to schedule it for before or after my 11:00am dentist appointment?

UPDATE: I will go before the grievance committee at 2pm on November 5.  They have to make a decision within 30 days of receiving my letter, so I'll know before Thanksgiving.

Extra, Extra

I wait tables part time, and that means a lot of interactions with people.  Sometimes these people are odd.  Like a couple of weeks ago, when I had a table of two. . .  They each ordered an entree, hash browns, and a salad.    That in and of itself isn't unusual.  But then they said they wanted to order an extra side of hash browns.  This is a bit unusual since we serve the hash browns family style and an order for two is quite generous.  However, people really love the hash browns, so I didn't think much of it.  This was their first extra.  They then decided to order an extra salad, so they could each have a more sizable salad to begin their meal.  Extra number two.  They finished their meal (but not all of the hash browns - turns out that an order for two would've been sufficient).  I asked them if they would like dessert.  They both ordered 2 scoops of ice cream with EXTRA chocolate sauce.  I am not kidding!  I kept referring to them as my extra table.  I found myself hoping that their tendency for extra would mean I'd get an extra large tip.  Sure enough: 30%.  Hooray!

The Home Run

On Saturday, October 18, I participated in the Home Run 5K.  I am not a fast runner by any means, so my goal was to finish the 3.1 miles in 30 minutes or less.  I was thrilled to cross the finish line at 30:22!  Yipee!!  (My Race Results)

It was extremely foggy on Saturday morning.  It was so foggy, my glasses were completely fogged up within half a mile of the run.  I decided it would be better to run without them than to continue with them on.  When I got to the final stretch of the 5K, probably the last 0.25 mile, there was a volunteer cheering on the runners.  She clapped and yelled, "Good job!  You're doing great!  Keep it up!  Almost there!  You can see the finish line from here."  Uh-huh, I thought, not without my glasses.  All I could see was the arch at the finish line.  I could not see the writing on the arch that said finish.  Good thing there was also a crowd there cheering on the runners, or who know where I would've ended up!

Pontooning

When I was in high school, we had some out of town friends come to visit.  As part of their stay with us, we arranged to go out on a pontoon ride on a friend's boat.  There were about 8 of us on the pontoon.  Some people stayed in the back area of the pontoon under the canopy, and a few of us were on the front deck area.  As we were enjoying our ride on the lake, people were slowly milling about, moving from one area to the other.  At one point, more than half of the group was on the front area, and the front of the pontoon started to dip under the water.  My dad screamed, "WE'RE GOING DOWN!!"  and darted toward the back, quickly followed by the rest of us who were on the front.  He was heroically going to save my mom, who doesn't swim.  We soon realized we weren't going down, but we just needed to make sure we didn't have too many people in the front.  Consequently, yelling "WE'RE GOING DOWN!!" has become shorthand in my family for false panic.

Stories

I have been told more than once that I have a story for everything.  I was reminded of this yesterday while out on Lake Monona on a video shoot as I kept telling stories.  Most of them are true.  And most of them have happened to me or in my presence.  I think sharing these stories here on my blog will be a good recurring theme.  And for those of you who are part of the story, or were also there at the time, please feel free to leave a comment adding your memory of the event.  Cool.  Happy Friday!

Health Insurance

After Einar and I got married, I was able to get on his health insurance through his employer.  I jumped at the chance!  I was shocked, however, when my new health plan, Dean Health, denied my claim for my annual colonoscopy because it was with an out-of-network provider.  This colonoscopy has been scheduled in June, and Einar's HR person had told him it should be covered.  I had even gotten a referral from a Dean doctor for it.

I have filed a grievance with Dean Health, and I am hoping that they will reverse their decision.  The grievance proceedings should be complete within 30 days.

Home Run

For the second year in a row, I'll be participating in the Home Run 5K.  You can read more about it on their website (http://www.rascwhomerun.com/).  If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can see what the South Central Wisconsin Housing Foundation, the beneficiary of the proceeds, does.

Welcome to Alphabet Soup!

This is my first foray into the blogosphere, and I'm not sure exactly what I'll do here.  I'm hoping to share thoughts, pictures, and general life stuff.  So, thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to leave a comment and check back often to see if I've updated anything!