The Packers Made the Playoffs!

 

Today Travalon and I drove to Oconomowoc for a birthday party for his mother, who will be 98 on Thursday. All three of his brothers were there, and two of my sisters-in-law. One is expecting a baby next month, and it was their seven-year anniversary today. I remember their wedding day: it was bitterly cold, and the church seemed familiar because it turned out my band had played for a wedding there many years earlier, I think well before I started keeping this blog. You could see Holy Hill from their church. After the party, Travalon and I went to Mass for Epiphany up at Holy Hill, and it was very long. Especially the homily, but I didn't care about that since I may or may not have been enjoying a refreshing nap at that point. The music and the decorations were very beautiful. Afterwards I wanted to buy myself a rosary at the gift shop, and they had one which is a type I have been thinking about getting for a while, with the first decade having black beads, then each decade is a lighter shade of gray until the last one, which is white. It is for praying for the souls in Purgatory, so after we grabbed a quick lunch at Rocky's, we prayed it for all the people we could think of offhand who have died. Of course we kept thinking of more people, so after every decade I would stop and say, "Who else?"

We got home just as the Packer game was starting. They were playing the Bears, the team they dominated in their first game this season, but the Bears have improved a lot. The game went very quickly, because there were only two penalties, and only one was enforced because the Packers declined the one against the Bears. At first the Bears got a field goal, then the Packers also had to settle for kicking a field goal... and they missed! So they were losing briefly. However, most of the game they seemed to be dominating offensively, but they were only up by eight points on their last drive. I thought they might want to score again, but they really chewed up a lot of clock, and then Aaron Jones had a run that got them a first down with like a minute and a half left, so at that point they just took a knee twice. This means the Packers have clinched a playoff berth, and they'll be playing the Cowboys (coached by their former coach McCarthy) down in Dallas. I don't expect big things from them in the playoffs, but I am so happy they made it during a rebuilding year, when the team is so young. They are the youngest team to make the playoffs since at least the 70's.

Fitz's on the Lake had sent me a text saying I could have half off my meal within seven days of my actual birthday, so we went there right after the game. We were singing songs about Jordan Love, the Packers' quarterback, like, "All you need is Love! (And Jones!)" and "Without Love, where would you be now, now now now? Not in the playoffs!" I am just so happy because I didn't want anyone to regret that we went with Jordan Love instead of Aaron Rodgers this year. When we got to Fitz's, it was still decorated beautifully for Christmas.

Santa Baby Yoda!

We were the only ones in there at that late hour. It's more of a summer place, but I'll bet there were people there during the game. The waitress and the bartender were both wearing Packer gear, as was I. 

On the way home, we took photos of some Christmas decorations that are still up.

Even this gas station has a Christmas tree!

It's always a little sad for me this time of year, when people start to take down their Christmas decorations. At this point the Twelve Days of Christmas are over, but I wish people would keep them up for the whole dark, dreary month of January. In some cultures, the Christmas season goes until Candlemas, which is on Groundhog's Day. Imagine how great it would be to have Christmas lights up until then!

Famous Hat

Belly Dancing Birthday Party

 

This morning Travalon and I met Tiffy and Jilly Moose for coffee, then we walked to the Union but it's closed until Monday, so we walked up Langdon Street. Travalon left to go to a Badger Basketball game, while we ladies continued on to the Edgewater. We were watching little kids ice skate (it was a 9th birthday party) when an employee joked that he could hit a kid with a snowball, which one did we want? We talked to him a bit, then suddenly he pointed at Jilly Moose and said, "Are you a Moose?" We were all caught off-guard, since her last name is not a common one, but it turned out he went to school with her brother, and he thought she looked just like her brother. I hadn't noticed that, but I do know she looks a lot like her mother. Then we walked back to State Street and had lunch at the Globe. They gave me a free dessert for my birthday!

Jilly Moose had to leave for work, so Tiffy and I hung out at her sister's apartment and then got bubble tea just as Travalon came back from the game, so he got some too. Then we went to Leopold's, and the same bartender was there, so we discussed with her what would be a good pandan ice cream drink. We decided on one with vanilla ice cream and vanilla liqueur, so she made a sample one in case it wasn't that good, but it was so delicious that we all decided to have one. We were coming up with names for it, and two of the bartenders liked my idea "Pandanic at the Disco" (there's a band called Panic at the Disco) and one liked my idea "Mr. Pandman, Bring Me a Dream." Tiffy suggested Pandantastic, and we had some other ideas that I can't remember right now. The drinks were a beautiful green.

Then we went over to Rich's house to help him prepare for my birthday party. Mamastep, R Van the Terrible, the Dairyman's Daughter, Kathbert, Cecil Markovitch, and the guy who makes wonderful desserts and his son all came too. Rich made chicken parmesan, and R Van brought broccoli and cauliflower that Cecil cooked in some way that they tasted AMAZING (I guess a ton of butter and garlic, and he charred them), and Mamastep made a salad. Rich made black magic cake, and the dessert guy made a tres leches cake. Somehow the topic of coffee that goes through civets came up, and Kathbert said it was "Number Two Brew" or something like that, but the best part was that it took Rich a minute to get it. I personally have never had coffee pooped out by a weasel, but Cecil claims he has tried it and that it's not that great. He gave Travalon and me matching Croatian hats, and then he whipped out his own.

It's some kind of Croatian sausages. I guess I'm an honorary Croatian now! 

There were so many blog post titles I thought of today, but now I can't think of any of them except Number Two Brew, and something Tiffy and I were talking about at coffee this morning: on the record Chicago XVII, some songs were by James Pankow and published by Make Me Smile Music, and I liked them. The bigger hits were by Peter Cetera and published by Double Virgo Music, and I didn't like them. I said they were both stupid names for music publishing companies, but what would we call ours? Travalon said something about washed-up wrestlers, so then I thought of Washed-Up Laundress Music. Oh yeah, that's right! Mamastep gave Kathbert, Tiffy, and me a belly dancing lesson before dinner, and one move was "snake arms," which she said really helps with the "chicken arms." So I said, "Snake arms kill chicken arms! That would be a good blog post title!" I will note that Travalon and Cecil seemed to really enjoy watching this lesson, and Travalon helpfully found some Moroccan music for us to dance to. 

I just ran the potential blog post titles by my focus group (Travalon), and we're going with "Belly Dancing Birthday Party." Maybe I should actually take some lessons. It's so good for your core muscles!

Famous Hat

Friday Funday

 

This morning I picked up Tiffy downtown, and we went to Zippy Lube for coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Travalon had gotten a gift certificate for Zippy Lube last week, so my breakfast was already paid for. Then Tiffy and I took a very long walk at Tenney Park: out onto the jetty, around the island, and along the river. We stopped by the good chocolate shop, but it's closed until next month... and we didn't even have Richard Bonomo with us! Usually when I go with other people, the chocolate shop is open, but every time I bring Rich, it's closed. 

Since we were right there, Tiffy and I had lunch at Banzo, and I had so many points that my lunch was half off. Then we went to Leopold's so I could have a pandan latte (Tiffy had herbal tea), and we talked to the bartenders about how hard it would be to add pandan to a cocktail. Tiffy thought it would work well in a White Russian, and one bartender thought it would work in an ice cream drink, so we'll have to go back sometime and try one of those ideas.

We headed to the apartment complex where Jilly Moose lives, but we were about an hour early, and West Towne Mall is very close, so we just hung out there for a while, not really doing anything but sitting in some easy chairs they had in the middle of the mall and talking about which Geico ads we thought were the funniest. Once Jilly Moose was off of work, we went to her apartment and hung out with her and the Moose Herd. I particularly liked a blond moose she calls Frothy, but I suppose Mr. Swanky will always be my favorite. After all, we wrote a song about him and created a video to go with it, which you can find on YouTube:

We also entertained ourselves by asking Alexa weird questions, just like we had at R Van the Terrible's house. AI is so random - she would sometimes say she didn't know, but would we like her to order coffee for us every month and have it delivered? Would we like to pay every month to have access to music? No, no, no, Alexa. Just answer the darn question! People often ask me if I would like to have Alexa, and no, I would not. I don't need to spend all my time arguing with AI that it hasn't answered my question when it's really just acting as an advertisement for all these products and services.

Tiffy found that we were 700 feet from the Caspian Grill, so we walked there for dinner. I had gift certificates, and I thought maybe all three of my meals today would hardly cost me anything, but then they told me the gift certificates are only valid at their other location. Still, we got to hit some of Travalon's favorite places while he was working, or watching a movie about wrestlers that he figured wouldn't interest me. It was some famous family of wrestlers in which several of them committed suicide or died under weird circumstances, like electrocution. Yeah, that probably wouldn't have interested me. I like comedies.

Famous Hat

Deja Vu Dinner

 

Last night Travalon and I went to St. Charles Station, which is basically Liliana's. I had jambalaya, while he had the most delicious tenderloin ever. There was jazz playing in the background, and the waitress was super attentive even though she would automatically get a 20% tip. I was fascinated to see a wine with a Basque name, "Beltza Itxas Harria," which apparently means Black Stone. I know "beltza" is black, and I couldn't remember what "Harria" was, and I thought "itxas" was "itxaso," which means sea, so I thought it was Black Sea Something. Anyway, it was a red blend, and it was delicious. I felt so old when I was telling the waitress about living in the Basque Country for a summer many moons ago. I got a free dessert (chocolate mousse), and she took our photo.

I also made a short video of the Christmas lights reflecting off a wine glass.

The food was very good, but there were only two other tables of people. That seemed strange - Liliana's was always far more popular than that. Maybe people aren't going out after the holidays?

Today I worked for half a day, and I was surprised by how many other people were on campus too. Hardingfele gave me hedgehog socks and chocolates for my birthday. One coworker left me a little ceramic Christmas succulent.

It's very cute, but it gets kind of hot when it's turned on. (Why does that sound sexy? Do I just have a dirty mind?) She gave another coworker a miniature game of corn hole, complete with mini beanbags. That was really cute too.

I had to walk across campus to drop off a check, and I saw this on the bike path:

Looks legit.

I left work at 12:30 and went downtown to meet Tiffy. We had lunch at Himal Chuli, walked down to the Union, and then hung out at her sister's apartment until Rich picked us up and took us back to St. Charles Station, where he and Tiffy treated me to dinner. We had some appetizers, tempura mushrooms and risotto balls, until Travalon arrived, then we all had the tenderloin. This time I had the apple tart for dessert. Our waitress was so happy to see us again, especially since we were the only ones in the restaurant. What's going on? How can they stay in business like this? Are people mad because the owner changed the name of the restaurant since his daughter (whom it was named after) became trans? There is a casual part now, and that was far more popular both nights. I prefer the fine dining area, but the casual part does have good pizza. I hope business picks up for them.

Famous Hat

Happy Birthday to Me! I'm Not Fifty-Three!

 

Today I slept in, then Travalon gave me some gifts: a Becky Badger keychain (yes, Bucky had a girlfriend back in the 70's), a Drogheda Drogues pin, and a gift card to Ishnala so that we can go there for my half-birthday, since they aren't open in the winter.

I don't actually follow the Drogheda Drogues, but when I asked Travalon if Northern Ireland soccer teams were in the Irish League or some other league, he looked it up and found they were in the Irish League, and we were fascinated to see that Drogheda (I can't believe it's been almost a decade since we were there) has their own team. Plus, it's just fun to say "Drogheda Drogues." 

Travalon also gave me a plush musk ox, which was a donation to the World Wildlife Fund.

It came in its own "Happy Birthday" tote bag.

Then we drove out to Sauk to see eagles. And did we ever! There were about a dozen on and around the island, including sitting on a sandbar and in the trees across the river.

We didn't see any from the VFW Park, but we did see more across the river at the dam.

The bakery we like to go to out there was closed for the holiday season through today, so no birthday shortbread for me. I remembered that the coffee shop in Waunakee once gave me a free scoop of ice cream on my birthday, so we went there, but they no longer have ice cream. They said they could give me a free latte... but when I looked at our receipt, they had in fact charged us for it. Oh well, I didn't say anything. We also had chicken pesto sandwiches there for lunch.

After Travalon left for work, I went on a very brisk walk to get my active minutes, and I ran into my neighbor with the cute little dog Lucy, so I joined her on her beautiful sun porch for a margarita and some nuts. Lucy was VERY excited that I had come to visit, and she hardly left me alone. We eventually went on another walk, so I feel like I spent a lot of time walking, yet I am still short of steps for the day. Soon I will have to leave to meet Travalon for dinner at the new restaurant that used to be Liliana's, but maybe after dinner I can walk around the house.

I forgot to mention that the other day when we went to Picnic Point to see swans but didn't see any, we did see a mallard drake land on the ice and then slide. I couldn't tell if he did it on purpose or if he were surprised, but I laughed really hard, and I swear he did too.

Here are a couple of photos I forgot to post earlier. Travalon got yet another Dino the Sinclair Dinosaur, this one in action.

My longtime readers may remember that last Advent I got a crystal Advent calendar, but it was a bit of a letdown because the three most valuable crystals were missing: fluorite, jade, and amethyst. I finally called them not long before Christmas and said, "I was told it would be a while before I get the missing crystals, but it's been almost a year." They were surprised and said they had actually been sent right after I called, but they would send them again. So here they are.

The weird thing is that they arrived in a simple envelope with no explanation, and the return address was "Fulfillment Center" and not "National Geographic Toys" or anything that might explain what they were. Then I had a vague memory that I had, in fact, gotten some crystals in the mail at one point, but I couldn't figure out where they had come from because of the unhelpful return address, and I guess I'd forgotten about the Advent calendar. I thought, "Why would someone send me crystals randomly?" That's my old brain, I guess - without anything to explain them, I forgot why they came.

Famous Hat

Back to Work... from Home

 

Today I eased back into work. I worked from home and it wasn't too crazy of a day, although I did have to order books from a website all in a language I don't know at all. Fortunately it's one of those Nordic languages that sometimes almost looks like English, and Google Translate is also a big help, but at one point I accidentally emptied my shopping cart and had to start over. Oops! Also, I apparently already had a password on this site, but I hadn't written it down anywhere, so I had to change it. 

At lunch I went for a walk and saw a flock of swans fly overhead, whooping with what sounded like delight. I counted them, and there were exactly thirty. Then a smaller flock of seven flew overhead.

I was afraid I'd be bummed out by how quiet my church would be tonight during my adoration hour, since there isn't the bustle there always used to be with Spanish Mass in the evening, but there were a lot of people at adoration for some reason, so it didn't feel lonely at all.

I forgot to mention that on Christmas Day, someone said "cassata" means "marriage," and someone else asked why I always made a Sicilian wedding cake for Christmas, so I said, "Because... it's the marriage of Heaven and Earth!" They all said, "Whoa!! That's DEEP!" and Cecil Markovitch asked if I just thought of that right then, so I said, ".... maybe." Because yes, yes I did just think of it right then. Usually I can't come up with a good retort on the spot but only hours later, as I lay awake trying to get to sleep. Honestly, I just made a cassata for Christmas one year because Ma Hat always makes them for Christmas, and then once everyone tasted it, that was it - I had to make it every year. I'm not sure where she got the recipe, since we aren't Sicilian, unlike Rich, who is half Sicilian. His lasagna and eggplant parmesan taste like Pa Hat's, and Pa Hat learned to cook in a monastery from an actual Sicilian. So we have a very Sicilian Christmas dinner at Richard Bonomo's house, which only seems appropriate. Or at least we have very Sicilian food, since I have no idea what actual Sicilians in Sicily eat for Christmas dinner. I have heard that some Italians have the Feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, but that might not be in Sicily, and it's not Christmas Day. Someday I'd love to do the Feast of the Seven Fishes at Rich's house, but Travalon and I have come up with our own tradition of eating Indian food on Christmas Eve, and there's nothing wrong with a little tikka masala for the holidays.

Famous Hat

Happy 2024!

 

We had a very relaxing morning, since there was no obligation today so we didn't have to go to Mass. We took a walk outside, and lots of swans flew overhead, going "Woo! Woo!" We watched the Badgers in the Something Quest Bowl, and at first they were two touchdowns ahead of LSU, but in the end they did lose by four points because the defense couldn't stop them in the second half. What a bummer, but at least they didn't get steamrolled like I was afraid they would. In fact, at first I was scared to watch until realizing that they were doing so well.

In the late afternoon we went to my OTHER choir director's apartment for his usual New Year's Day Dessert Extravaganza, and at first we didn't know anyone there but the host. We started talking to a woman who had lived in the Czech Republic for years, and I also talked to an organist I've known for years, but I didn't really get a chance to talk to the choir director at the church in the gym, which was a letdown because I've been thinking of joining them. My OTHER choir director says do it. I've been reluctant to choose a new parish home, hoping Masses will again be said at my church, but how long should I wait for that to happen? 

On the way home we passed the original house in town with the light show synchronized to music. Here are some photos.

I was happy to get to see it this year. I've heard some of the other houses like this also do things for Halloween, so we'll have to keep that in mind next October. That's a month when we're more focused on hiking on the Ice Age Trail than looking at lights, so I'll probably forget by then.

When we got home, Travalon turned on the Rose Bowl, where Michigan and Alabama were tied. First of all, I don't think Alabama (with one loss) should have gotten in over Florida State (with no losses), and secondly I'm just sick of the Crimson Tide, so I started to get into the game despite myself. It went into overtime and Michigan scored a touchdown, then Bama was in the Red Zone... but Michigan stopped them!!! I went to the Wikipedia page for Michigan's quarterback and found something hilarious:

I told Travalon, "I have to get a screenshot - someone will 'fix' this in about five minutes," and indeed, when I went back to the page, there was no sign of "AKA Alabama's Daddy" on there. Some Michigan fan (or just Roll Tide Hater) must have done it. The thing is, anyone can edit a Wikipedia page, but then that means anyone can correct the edits. People used to joke about how inaccurate Wikipedia was, but in my experience, anything fake gets edited immediately. That's why I had to get the screen shot as soon as I saw this edit, because there was no way it was going to last. Anyway, now you can enjoy it.

Famous Hat