Wade and I seem to spend most of our time in work clothes and respirators. Cute aren’t we?
For not being yard people, Wade and I have done a lot in the last two weeks. We planted flowers and roses with Wade’s parents last weekend. This weekend, we planted two bushes, fenced the roses, and mulched. We had hoped that Madison’s established path would keep her away from the roses – no such luck. Our solution is a fence until the roses are a little bigger:
The yard is looking pretty good and we are done for a while I think:
It is probably a very good thing that Wade and I have a very similar sense of humor. We both loved the “best gift ever” he brought me back from his trip to Florida.
To make it even better, it was on sale and needs a little repair. Some of the hot glue is failing and the turtles are losing their heads.
We have a race track (Milwaukee Mile) within walking distance of our house. It might be a long walk, but we considered it. Wade’s friend from high school, Matt, is currently working on a pit crew for the 71 team of the Nascar Truck Series. They were racing at “our” track and Matt got us tickets and a pit pass. We were a little late arriving due to Wade’s delayed flight, but we got there in time for the good stuff. We saw quite a pile up on the track right in front of us, the stands were evactuated for the threat of a storm, and we got to visit with Matt. All in all, it was fun. I might even want to go back sometime.
The picture below is from the pit. Matt is sitting up on top of the truck towards the right in a blue shirt. He described his job as “strategist”.
Wade brought up the idea last week of saving up his points for an iPhone. I was open to the idea and mentioned I have been secretly wanting one too. I would be more than happy with an older, used model. Wade wants the brand new one. We did a little research and found that he could sell his current phone (pictured below) on ebay for almost $200. He bought it in Hong Kong and it is still in great condition. He could also sell his iPod, which would about cover the cost of the iPhone. The points he will turn in will be based more on the monthly increase to our phone plan when we add a data plan.
Then they send Wade to Florida for research. He doesn’t return my call one evening and the next morning I have an email telling me he lost his phone. Evidently he left the phone on the table at dinner (Wade and his piles) and realized it as soon as he got to the hotel. He called the restaurant and they couldn’t find it. He called them the next day and they still didn’t have it. We assumed it was gone at this point and Wade was not too happy. Then last night he was out walking and ended up near the restaurant. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to stop in and ask. They had it! I can’t imagine why it would be there after three days unless no one actually looked when he phoned to ask. Regardless he is super excited and the iPhone is now much more likely.
Wade and I decided to plan out all of this year’s projects. There are lots of fancy computer programs, but we find ourselves using our old familiar system of a board and notecards. This time Wade wanted a reward system. Each project has a certain number of points based on how long it takes to complete and how much he has to be “enticed” to do it. I can add points if I want it to move up on the list. Then we created a list of things he can turn in points for: banana pudding, a weekend up North, a night of bowling, a new desk lamp, etc. So far it seems to be working, Wade is moving through the projects. I’m not sure what he’s hoarding his points for though. He has only redeemed the banana pudding.
It turns out our neighborhood has an ice cream truck. It took me a few minutes to figure out the sound and I can’t determine a pattern to when – but we have ice cream at our doorstep!
I’ve become addicted to chocolate graham crackers. I buy at least one box every time I go to the grocery. Last time I was at the store, I realized the store brand was half the price of Nabisco. I figured I’d give it a try.
I’m going back to Nabisco. There’s nothing wrong with them, but they don’t taste quite the same. I’m sure I’ll manage to finish the box I have before too long.
Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads. We took Judy and Jerry to church, grilled burgers for lunch, and then went for a tour of Sprecher’s Brewery, which also produces colas and root beer.
We then put Judy and Jerry to work in the yard. I now have double knockout roses along the back fence, a filled window box, and a few new plants in front.
We ended the day with a wonderful steak dinner for a Father’s Day Meal.
We took today to show Judy and Jerry around Milwaukee. We drove around Wauwautosa, the lake front, the river walk, etc. We also made our first trip to a German restuarant, which are found all over the area. Mader’s was recommended to us and we all enjoyed the authentic German food (Mary Ann – finally we eat German food). They also had a stein and hummel gift store and a large chair for the kiddies.