Mom's Second Visit West!

I've been pretty busy lately, mostly tying up loose ends at work, but I wanted to post about the really fun visit from Mom a mere week ago. This week has seemed so long, it feels like at least two weeks ago. Anyway, Arlo at work, cats and dog quiet, seems like a good time to turn off the trashy television shows and reflect. Speaking of reflecting, I had a bizarre dream and it's made me really paranoid that I don't reflect on my actions, how they affect others, and what's been happening, nearly enough. Hopefully with my time off in a week (!) I will be doing more of that. Onto the visit!

Thursday night Mom arrived, mostly so that she didn't have to travel on Friday the 13th. Picked her up after working all day, and Arlo was awesome and made an incredible squash soup with biscuits. We relaxed and I think went to bed really early. Mom stayed in Marley's room and Marley stayed with the sitter.

Friday morning, lazy morning, got a late start. We hung out, ate kringle, played with the accordian (yes, that is my mother playing Arlo's toy accordian). I took Mom to Cedar Valley Cheese Store, where we ate our weight in cheese samples. They had a paltry display by Cedar Valley standards... only a mere 12 varieties to sample. It was delicious! After that we headed to Cedarburg, a place that, upon first glance, I was certain my mother would love. It did not disappoint. We ate lunch at a restaurant in a restored barn, called Anvil Pub, and then drank wine samples from Cedar Creek Winery. After that, we went through three FLOORS of boutique shops. I think my mom could have actually stayed there all day, and the only thing that made her want to leave was the prospect of more shopping out on the main street. We spent the rest of the day shopping until we headed back home in time for a fish fry. That night, Arlo, Mom, and I met up with Jerry, Arlo's dad, at Lakefront Brewery, which has a Friday night fish fry and live polka music. It was a lot of fun, and it gave Mom the polar opposite of the first fish fry at Cliff's, a restaurant that has about 8 tables, in that it probably had 50 family-style tables, was crazy busy and really loud. Now, she's had both ends of the spectrum.

Saturday, Arlo, Mom, and me went to tea at Watt's Tearoom. Arlo's first experience with tea, and it was a pretty good one. It's funny, it feels like everything is bigger in Wisconsin. Here, the tea sandwiches are huge, like actual sandwiches, and on the dessert tray, there was an entire slice of cake. For anyone who has been to tea, you would know that that's strange to see. From there, we went to Miller Brewing Company, where we went on a tour of the brewery and then had free samples. As you can see from the pictures, the samples too were huge, at least for samples. We had a good time and Mom enjoyed looking around the gift shop. We went home for a bit to hang out and relax our bellies before heading out again to eat, this time to Mader's. Last time Mom was here with Marylou, we took them to Carl Ratsches, so this time it was Mader's, the other really well-know Milwaukee German restaurant. We had some of the best food I have had in a long time, and everyone had a nice time talking and eating off of eachother's plates. Afterwards, we hung out at home, watching t.v. and relaxing.

Sunday, Mom and I went to go shopping yet again. This time, she took me to Stein Mart, a place that I've never been to, but where I found at least a few Christmas presents. Finally, shopping bug satiated, we returned home to relax a bit before the flight. For dinner, we took Mom to Jalapeno Loco, a local (and loco!) Mexican restaurant. I mean, why not round out her ethnic experience, right? After another awesome meal, we dropped Mom off at the airport for her flight.

It was a really fun weekend and a nice break for all of us. I don't want to rush time, but I am looking forward to this next week being over so that I can be blissfully unemployed. I hope everyone is doing well on the East coast (and uber East coast). Take care, y'all.

Home For Christmas

Well, it's official...I am coming home for Christmas. I was on the fence about it, for many reasons great and small, but in the end, I decided it would be just too sad to not be home for the holiday. Arlo is staying here to be with his family and hold down the fort (and the pets). I will be heading in on December 23 and staying until December 28. This should give me just enough time to visit all of my family and friends, give and receive presents, eat way too much, and talk way too much about the wedding.

My last day of work is official as well...on November 30, I will be leaving the clinic. I can't believe that there is only two and a half weeks left. For the last month, time has flown by. I have a lot to wrap up in the end, and the nice thing is that there is a new therapist who will be working with most of my clients, so I am not leaving them feeling completely abandoned. She's a great therapist and I feel very comfortable having her continue the work with them. Whether or not one of my clients actually attacks her out of anger for taking my place is another question. I'm not sure what I'm going to do (if anything) for money for the remaining time in Wisconsin, but I'm not going to worry about it now, at least not for the month of December. Because, check out what I have to look forward to! My mom is visiting us this weekend to enjoy Wisconsin goodness one more time. In early December, Arlo and I are going to be heading to Florida to visit my dad, and the day after we get back we are going to my first Packers game. After that, we are heading to Chicago for the weekend and staying at the Wyndham for our Christmas present to ourselves, and then home for Christmas. Happy December!!!! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it, there's so much to look forward to!

Alright, peeps, what do you have going on in December? Also, what are your thoughts on presents this year? Love them? Hate them? Not sure how I feel about homemade presents this year, but I'm not entirely opposed or planning on it. We'll see how those three weeks in December go, with everything else.

I hope all is going well with everyone on the East Side. Take care, y'all!