Quotable UGGH Club Meeting

How do you sum up a wonderful weekend? Friday evening Travalon and I brought Rodney to “Bark in the Park,” the annual Mallards game when they allow dogs to attend. Then we stopped by the Laundromat one last time… and our laundry had mysteriously reappeared! Which was a really good thing, because Travalon’s Ireland shirt was among the items. We hadn’t even realized it was missing…

Saturday morning Travalon, Jilly Moose, and I drove to the Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse, where we met Ma and Pa Hat and my mom’s friend since graduate school days. Travalon had never been to the shrine before, and he was as taken with its beauty (both the buildings and the natural surroundings) as I am. In the gift shop I bought yet another rosary, this one commemorating Knock, since we hadn’t had time to look for one while we were there. I love this rosary so much that I used it yesterday and then again today during my lunch break. It’s very pretty, with green translucent beads and a center medal shaped like a shamrock with the Knock tableau on it. Then Travalon, Jilly Moose, and I drove to Mauston to go to Mass at St. Patrick’s, since I was so curious about the church. For years I’ve seen it from the highway whenever I passed Mauston. It was pretty inside but not as amazing to attend as Sacred Heart in Eau Claire. After Mass we went to Marley’s in the Dells for mediocre fish and fabulous drinks. My advice to you: just drink there, don’t eat, or at least don’t get the grouper.

Sunday Travalon and I slept in, since we’d already gone to Mass, then we went canoeing up the Yahara. We were aiming for an island I’d seen on Google Earth and also remembered seeing from the street when looking at houses up that way with Luxuli. We had just sighted the island when a big wind blew up, and Travalon advised we turn back before things got too crazy. We were paddling against the wind and hardly seemed to be moving at times, and then by the Nau-Ti-Gal we got partway under the bridge and were blown back out from under it. Great, we had an audience with the people eating lunch at the Nau-Ti-Gal and several fishermen on the bridge. We did finally manage to get back home and got the canoe put away just before it rained. Later the sun came back out, and we went to swim at our health club’s outdoor pool for 45 minutes, until black clouds rolled in again. We got inside just before the rain came back. In the evening we arrived at Rich’s house just as another downpour started – what a weird weather day! Michaela and Rodney met for the third time, and at first they got along, then they didn’t, then they ignored each other and coexisted peacefully while the humans discussed our plans for UGGH Club. We had all had some wine, and we ended up with some memorable quotes:

Luxuli: “Could you repeat the restructions?”

Kathbert: “Hold out your crumb” (instead of "your hand"). (Also, when Luxuli said she was giving up gluten as a penance, Kathbert wondered if she were avoiding the sin of “gluten-y.”)

Me: (In response to Luxuli saying that Richard Bonomo made her breakfast at his house after UGGH Club) “I’ve never been eaten here!”

But by far the best was Rich: “I have no problem with UGGH Club starting at 6:30, so long as we actually begin at 6:00.”

So of course this morning Rich and Prairie Man got there at 6:30 but I didn’t make it until just before 7:00, and let’s just say I wasn’t the last person to arrive. Meanwhile, Travalon slumbered peacefully. Am I a good wife for letting him sleep, or a bad wife for not making him get up and work out? He probably swam at a more reasonable hour, so I’m not too worried about his health. 

Famous Hat