Froehliche Geburtstag, Jannie

My lovely wife turned 39 on Friday.  She took it very well, I think.  Women are really most attractive as they mature and Janet is no exception.  In any event, I love her more as each year passes.  Happy birthday, love.

The water of life

Friday night, our good friends Steve and Ellen came over from Middleton to help us celebrate and we went out to dinner at Il Mito on about 70th and North Avenue in Milwaukee.  We met them at the bar and had a glass of wine and some catch-up conversation before we went to our table for dinner.  The food was good and sharing it with such good friends made the occasion even better.  We came back to our house (Steve and Ellen stayed over that night) for some desert, but not before we savored a couple of drams of Aberlour 12 year old single malt whisky.  The 12 is double cask matured and an excellent value as well as a very pleasing dram to enjoy.  I believe at this point that Aberlour is my favorite Speyside whisky although more research is in order.  Steve and I each had two drams (!), in honor of Janet's birthday, of course.  I find that good whisky never tastes so good as when you're enjoying it with friends and family.  I've purchased a bottle of Aberlour's excellent A'bunadh to open and enjoy with Stephanie, Adam and Ruth, and Keith and Sarah when they are here at Christmas time.  Of the Speyside whiskys, this is my all time favorite although a small splash of water is mandatory because of the high alcohol content (59.7% abv) of this non chill-filtered cask strength magnificent whisky.  What a treat this would be with a wee bit o' haggis!

Saturday night we went downtown to see David Sedaris at the Riverside Theater courtesy of son Adam. We left home early so we could have a bite to eat before the show and stopped in at Mo's Irish Pub on Wisconsin Avenue just across the street from the Riverside. We caught the last of the Wisconsin-Iowa game (Badgers 31-30, YES!) as we waited for our  burgers and found ourselves with about an hour to kill before the show by the time we'd eaten.  We walked around by the river (it was very balmy and pleasant that evening) and eventually found our seats in the theater in time to relax a bit before Sedaris did his thing.  He's a very funny guy and the entire show was a continuum of chuckles, giggles, and belly laughs.  We had a very good time and Janet had a great birthday weekend.  If the Republicans had bombed the building during the show, they'd probably have cinched the election for sure.

Girls in bathroom linen closet

Katie and Bella are perking along and, although they don't know it yet, they'll soon be reunited with their Mom down in San Antonio.  Katie's chemo continues to go well although she doesn't care for the tuna flavored prednisone we have to squirt into her unwilling mouth every evening.  It would probably be correct to say that she doesn't care for the chemo admin itself but she is a good sport about it and doesn't seem to hold the weekly visit to the vet against Janet and me.  We try to keep food available during the day so that Katie can eat if she's hungry.  We want to put some weight on her and she's gradually adding pounds a fraction at a time.  Bella is the inadvertent beneficiary of this and has blossomed into a cat of substance.  Nevertheless, she will play with her fishing pole cat toy for extended periods and she's both energetic and agile.  Both cats are real buddies and wherever we see Katie we can be sure that Bella is close behind.  I've included a couple of pics illustrating this as they nap together in the bedroom closet and the bathroom linen closet.

Girls in bedroom closet

The leaves are virtually all off the trees at this point and as we look out the family room window through the now bare tree line, across the farm field bare and harvested, to Elmwood Road we remember Janet's Mom who always commented on being able to see the road at this time each year as if it was the first time she'd noticed it.  We miss her as the holidays draw near.

Today is a rainy, grey day and dismal day.  The good news is that Stephanie is now days away from leaving Iraq and returning to the States.  That's the sunshine through the clouds and a real cause for celebration.

Keith, Loch Ness

Our youngest son, Keith, is only days away from leaving for Argentina as he begins the next phase of his life and career.   Keith is working toward a career in travel writing and/or related endeavors and will spend a month in Salta, Argentina and surrounds as the first stage in a 2-year long odyssey.  He's been writing a travel blog for over a year now and has received substantial recognition for his writing and insights. We're looking forward to reading more as his odyssey unfolds.  Wife Sarah is fully in support of this career change but we know that she and Keith will miss each other greatly during his month-long absences.  But those reunions will be sweet!  We wish him (and Sarah) the best in this exciting new phase of their lives, and much success.