Long Transitions

Alright.

Last year winter lasted until the end of February, and by winter I mean snow and fun winter activities.

This year our last weekend of winter was midway through February. So what's the weather been like for the past month? One long transition. We had nice 50 degree weather for a couple days and then it was back down to well below freezing, but without any of the lovely snow to make it fun and exciting. And that's how it's been for the past month. Warm up. Cold. Warm up. Cold. I think this is a much more typical spring, but last year I was spoiled. It was winter until the end of February and by this time last year Mark and I had already been canoeing (yes canoeing) twice and had ridden our bikes countless times! There were flowers popping up everywhere. The grass was green!

This past week it finally started feeling like spring. The flowers are just starting to peek up their heads. Temps got up to 60 on Thursday. On Tuesday, the little girls I babysit and I had a picnic outside in the sunny 45 degree temperatures. Birds can be heard singing all over the place. Almost all the snow is gone.

BUT. Now it's raining. And tomorrow it will rain. Then it might SNOW! What's going on? Spring once you've come you need to stay! Thursday and Friday the lows are around 10! Silly me, I'd thought about packing up some of my winter clothes. Good thing I didn't because 10 degrees is going to feel mighty cold after a week of above freezing.

Luckily, I'm going to retreat from all this nonsense and go to FLORIDA next Sunday! Beautiful, warm, Florida. Hopefully when I return to Wisconsin a week later Spring will be here to stay. :-)

This is what democracy looks like!

So. In case any of you haven't been tuned into the news this week...something BIG is going on in Wisconsin. Our Governor is trying to get a bill passed that would limit the collective bargaining rights of public employees...this is bad for ALL public sector employees, but since I'm engaged to a teacher that's what I know the most about. Not having bargaining rights would mean that teachers would no longer have a say in class size, work hours, curriculum, school calendar, and a whole slew of other things that are REALLY important.

Some news media are trying to make this into a story about people protesting about pay cuts, but as anyone who has attended ANY of the rallies here the past few days knows, it's about collective bargaining rights. Sure...losing $5,000 (effectively) a year hurts...a lot. However, some of the big unions have agreed to these cuts as long as they could keep their bargaining rights. So if you see any stories saying it's about money...it most certainly is NOT!

Right now it feels like our lives revolve around these protests...and while it's cool to be standing up for our rights...it's also exhausting...and I rather miss "normal" life. Madison schools had a "sick out" on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and many other school districts in Wisconsin followed suit on Thursday and Friday. Today will be Day 5 of us going downtown protesting. The numbers have steadily grown and yesterday there were probably about 50,000 people. Including......JESSE JACKSON! He gave a speech at the 5:00 rally yesterday and while we were standing in the capitol he passed by us, like a foot away.

We've seen tons of Mark's kids from this year, last year, and the year before which I think has made him feel a lot better! I think everyone would rather be in the classroom (including Mark), but they all support him (many of them public employees, themselves).

Hopefully, this won't last too much longer. Hopefully, Scott Walker will make some concessions. I'll continue to keep everyone updated, but now...off to the rally!

Winter Fun!

This winter we've had lots of fun.

Ice skating on Lake Monona

Connie and I competed in the Iron Cupcake Competition. We didn't win, but it sure was fun!

"Blizzard"

All that snow down there is covering the steps of our apartment building.

Snow shoeing on our SNOW DAY!

It got pretty deep in some places.

Mark on top of some snow drifts.

Snowy ski at Kettle Moraine

Can't wait for the rest of winter! Hopefully high (36) temps won't ruin all our nice snow!

You know it's cold when...

1. Your nose hairs freeze...and you can feel them freeze.

2. Your breath makes such a dense fog you worry it might obscure your vision.

3. You leave a water bottle in the car and it freezes solid.

4. EVERYONE you see is wearing about 6 layers of clothes, even those people who normally like to pretend they can wear just a skirt and shirt when it's 20 degrees out.

5. The news station recommends staying inside if you can.

Today. It is cold.

-7 with a windchill of -20.

I did NOT want to go outside. However, I survived my outside trip. I must say...-7 doesn't really feel that cold when the sun is out. Wisconsin winter you have not beaten me yet! Bring on the cold temps. (Or maybe not).

Catching Up

Funny. So often my blogs are posts about how busy I've been and how I need to catch up on blogging. And here's another one. Here's to catching up.

We went to Florida for Christmas break. It was wonderful. Full of relaxation, family time, and of course shopping with my mom and sis. My sister got ENGAGED, which is crazy...because even though I'm engaged...she's my LITTLE SISTER! Craziness aside...I am so happy for her and so glad that Jeffrey will be a part of our family now! We all love him! Christmas day was full of loveliness. Lots of wonderful and thoughtful presents (including a kitchen aid from Santa!!!!), and a day filled with family. We went to my uncle's and as per tradition had a crazy game of croquet. The trip felt way too short and I was sad to leave my family.

Since we got back to Madison we've been enjoying some fun winter activities (although the snow melted on an abnormally hot day for a Madison winter). Luckily there's still ice skating. This past weekend we went ice skating on Lake Monona. It was amazing! Conditions are rarely good enough to be able to go skating on the big lakes. It was magical. There were lots of people out there and you could see there tiny silhouettes all across the lake.

Ok...that's all the catching up I'm doing for now. Oh except I'm super excited about this. My friend, Connie, and I are doing this thing called Iron Cupcake. There's a theme (citrus this time) and you make a bunch of cupcakes. People come and judge who's are the best. I'll update you with what we come up with to make!

Where I've Been (A Quick Post)

Since Mark and I got back we've been BUSY! This week I'm swamped with grad school apps, but the light at the end of the tunnel is definitely getting closer. So I'll be back to post more soon.

Our new kitchen table...isn't it PERFECT?! Also...note red kitchen aid mixer in background (my present from santa...isn't santa the best?) As a reward after I finish my grad apps this week I'll be spending some quality time with my new mixer. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I stayed up till midnight two nights ago finishing this for my grad app portfolio. I'm pretty happy with it. :-)