And Life Goes On...

Easter Sunday

Since the closing of Morels, Mark and I continue to adjust to a strange, new life. Mark accepted a job with a Middleton seafood restaurant called Captain Bill's and has been working as General Manager for almost 3 weeks now. I think it's still very weird for him to be at another place, but he's enjoying the change too. Even though the place is closed, Mark still has a lot of work left with Morels, from meetings and showings with the realtor, to inventories, to preparing items for sale, to paperwork and more meetings.

Leila with new birthday hat

I have added another student on my tutoring case-load and have increased time with almost all of my other kids, so my weekdays are a little long, but I am NOT working on the weekends. Housework and tutoring prep for the week is usually done on Saturday and Sundays are meant to be "a day off" for Mark and I, but we end up doing errands or something like that. Ah, well...summer is quickly approaching.

Jon and Leila relaxing after the baptism

This was the morning of the baptism and Emma "helped" Lisa

What else have we been doing? The first month without Friday night obligations was actually a really fun time. Along with my mother- and father-in law, we explored the local Friday night fish fry scene. As propreitors of our own place (and Van and Judy's loyalty to Morels where they went EVERY Friday), we definitely didn't get an opportunity to go to other spots, so it was really neat to get out and try different things.

At the church

Another change has been the relocation of dead things. Mark has removed the caribou from our second floor wall and has replaced it with the mountain lion that had been above the fireplace at the restaurant. We foolishly thought that, perhaps, by displaying it in the house it would put great fear and respect in the little hearts and minds of our often naughty, rambunctious kitties. Alas, they were not fooled by our ruse. Indeed, Fanny seems emboldened by the majority presence of felines in the house.

Fanny sits on the ladder and chills with her comrade

Several weeks ago was my spring break and I was able to relax a bit and work on a baby quilt for a good friend of mine, Liz. Liz is married to Marko (our bar manager/bartender) and they just welcomed a little baby girl on April 4. They named her Tanna Elizabeth. Although I did get quite a bit done (remember I'm still a novice), poor little Tanna will have to wait until her 3 or 4 month b-day before she gets her quilt.

Please note the small squares I'm using

Can you see? I'm making a trout baby quilt!

Mom and Dad also came for a visit during this time. Thankfully, they have found a local kennel which seems to take good care of Oscar while they are away on trips (plus it is very reasonably priced), which makes Mom and Dad more willing to take a "weekend getaway". The visit was really fun, with a visit to JoAnn Fabrics, visiting Bob at his office, going to the Hoard Museum in Fort Atkinson, and eating a delicious steak dinner that Mark prepared with John, Jim and Bob coming over as additional guests!

Mark helps "hold" Baby Tanna, with Dan and Billy

As I already mentioned, Tanna was born a couple weeks ago and a large group of us went to Meriter Hospital to visit the new family. Marko and Liz are thrilled, of course.

Tanna, 1 Day old

Marko and Liz with Tanna

Tanna and me

The other big event was Leila Hurlburt's baptism last weekend. Mark and I have the honor of being Leila's godparents and we attended the ceremony at a very small Lutheran church in Cornell, WI. The service was very nice and little Leila was a complete charmer; she was smiling and happy during the whole thing. She did have a moment of doubt when the pastor placed the water on her head, but she began to smile and chitter about again when she realized that it was not a big deal. Very cute.

Jane with Michael

Bud with 2 of his grandchildren

Jon Hurlburt's mom, Jane, invited us all over to a wonderful Easter brunch she had prepared. It was really nice seeing her and Jon's dad, Bud, again. I'm afraid I haven't seen them in 7-8 years! They both are such kind people, who always make everyone feel so welcome. After eating, we gathered around Leila as she opened some birthday (she just turned 1) and baptismal gifts. I think she liked being in the middle of things. I must mention too that Michael and Emma are turning out to be great older siblings; they both really enjoy being with the baby and are helpful to Lisa when she needs an extra set of hands. And look how handsome and pretty they looked....

Michael

Emma