Shop the Ward

The third ward is one of the fashionable areas in Milwaukee. I know that's not saying much since the only other fashionable area of the city is about 3 miles northeast known as the east side. Such creative titles. Anyway, I headed to the third ward to meet my daughters for some Black Friday shopping and a nice lunch.

The difference between the third ward shops and the awful mall and department store throngs is that the sales begin at 9am, none of the hordes of lifeless zombies getting up in the middle of the night to get a free widget that is worthless in the first place. We casually went from store to store where there were plenty of sales making our quality purchases reasonable. The clerks were friendly, in fact we were offered a Mimosa and homemade coffee cake at Broadway Paper. Most other stores offered hot coffee or some delicious little snack. It was relaxing, not hurried and a lot of fun plus the sun was shining and the air was crisp, a lovey late fall day in Wisconsin.

Jen's friend owns a shop called Freckle Face, a beautiful children's store. We spent more time in there than most stores. We purchased some cute things for the new baby. It was hard to choose with all the beautiful clothes and cute toys to pick from. I bought the environmentally, reusable diapers, Jen bought some trendy little girly clothes. My favorite shop was Anthropologie. It was filled with quality housewares and clothing, it reminded me of an upscale Urban Outfitters. I could have purchased kitchen gadgets and trinkets by the basket full but I refrained. I don't really need anything - less is more is generally my motto but it sure was tempting.

We ended our shopping at the Milwaukee Public Market enjoying a margarita and tacos at Margarita Paradise. This was the best Black Friday because it was with my girls.

Steely Dan - The Aja Show

There were 13 people in the band, including 3 women backup singers. The show started with the band doing a little jazzy instrumental introduction. Then one of the backup singers symbolically lowered a record player needle onto a record and the band started playing Black Cow, the first song from the Aja album. They continued the album songs in order and of course after the third song, the "album" had to be turned over. The music was flawless. Just sitting back and listening to the sound of Donald Fagen's vocals brought me back to a time when I was younger, less battered by age and experience. It was like good memories of another time flowed like the music. Walter Becker was magical. Playing a guitar is a talent way beyond anything I could imagine, and this guy is the master.

Before the concert, I insisted on a margarita - I had to have my Cuervo Gold. Jeff didn't make the connection until the band played Hey Nineteen, too subliminal at the time for him I guess. It seemed like Aja went by fast. Then Mr. Fagen asked the audience what we wanted to do now, the crowd went wild and the music continued. The Riverside is a great venue, small and inviting, it feels much more intimate than most concerts halls. Every song was familiar, most of them I could sing along from start to finish. The audience was shouting out requests. Their playlist seemed to be never ending. And just when I thought it was coming to an end, there was more. The girls sang a song (Dirty Work), the horns played solos, as did Walter Becker and the pianist. Then there was more. It was incredible.

The audience was filled with people just like us. At just under $250 for two tickets, and there were higher priced ones available, I wondered what kind of crowd would be attending. The middle-aged, balding or grey haired generation was well-represented. It was a nice mellow audience, so we could actually sit and enjoy the show, unlike others where you have to stand through the entire thing. But some things never change, I could smell the dope in the air.

This concert is one of the best I have ever experienced and I would love to come back again tomorrow to see the Royal Scam show. I'm curious to see what those gorgeous singers will be wearing.

Becoming outnumbered

Now that the poser is gone, there's a job opening. Pushover boss is delighted because she can bring in another one of her work buddies from her last job. I'm OK with interviewing him and going through the process because I figure there are plenty of other candidates to look at as well. Then I ask, when are we getting more candidates? After all, this is a bad economy so the talent pool (looking for a job) must be pretty good. Pushover boss is shocked and angry at such a suggestion. "Why would we look for outside talent when we can hire someone I know?!?" Boy, she was pissed. So back to the interview. We question this guy who clearly states that he wants to be management someday, not do QA work forever. He does seem qualified but he's had more jobs in this decade than the number of DUIs another loser co-worker has...(and that would be 6 DUIs).

So I question the director regarding interviewing more than one person and she makes Pushover boss look at more resumes. Pushover boss sets up two interviews with other highly qualified candidates. But wouldn't you know it, those highly qualified actually got jobs somewhere else. (I knew there was talent out there!) So that was her lame attempt at "looking at other candidates". More proof of lazy. Lazy...hmmm, it hit like a brick - she wants this guy BECAUSE he wants to be manager, then he can do her work...how could I have missed that? Now it all makes sense. He starts at the end of the month. One candidate, one interview, one hire.

Finding meaning on this day

I took the day off. I don't know why but I was told I should. I would probably need it. The advice was good advice, I did need it. Today is the day one year ago that Stephen was born. We should be celebrating his first birthday instead of mourning his loss. All I know is that I need to do something memorable, something to commemorate how important it is that he was here.

I've been dreading this day for a long time. I knew there would be sadness, something tough to get through, but the worst part was looking for some sort of meaning in the day, like I needed to do something really special. Planting a tree was one thought I had, but it didn't really fit how I feel. I want a tradition that I could continue on all of Stephen's birthdays, something meaningful for me to give.

I woke up with a sense of dread, between the loss and my inability to channel that grief, it was a struggle. I put my running gear on and headed out the door. The sky was gray but the temperature was very warm for November. All I had on was a long-sleeved t-shirt and leggings, for running this weather was perfect. Running changes my mood, the endorphins kick in and make me settle down. The ruminations stop running through my head and things always seem clearer. And that's when it hit me - Project Linus.

Project Linus is a non-profit organization that gives handmade blankets to sick and traumatized children. What a perfect way to memorialize our sweet baby grandson. I could make a quilt, in fact I could make one every year on his birthday and donate it in his name.

I hit the ground running, baby fabrics, patterns, and the National Project Linus website for proper instruction. This is just the therapy I need. I am a blanketeer.

Happy Birthday, Stephen... Love, Grandma.

Veteran's Day parade

We rode in the Veteran's Day parade today. The weather was perfect, better than perfect for a November day. The Legion Riders group that we ride with is so nice and friendly, it's always pleasant to be around them. The turnout was pretty amazing and I was touched by the display of patriotism shown by those in attendance. I think I will let the photos tell the story...

A different funeral

I went to a funeral tonight for a nice man that I worked with for about 4 years. His name is Mike Petrick and he looked like a cross between Santa Claus and a ZZ Top band member. He was a large pleasant man who had a happy disposition. He rode a Harley in his younger years, but once he had to give it up, his free time was devoted to the races, the Packers, and his friends at the local bar. For Mike, that bar was Sparky's in Cudahy. And that's where his retirement party was held last July. The place was pretty full of the locals who all knew Mike. Apparently, he had a Sparky's family besides his real family. It was a good time but then everything we did with Mike was a good time. We saw him at festivals, his favorite being Summerfest, he enjoyed every opportunity for a good time.

Not long after Mike retired, he had a heart attack. It took a long time, but he recovered from that event and changed his life. Before the heart attack, he ate Fritos every day, along with a variety of things that were not healthy, but he changed all that to recover. Even though he cut back on some of the things that were bad for him he still had the races and the Packers games. On the day he died, he was heading to Racine to watch the races with his friends. He blacked out behind the wheel of his car and hit a tree. The paramedics were called and he was coherent but on the way to the hospital he had a massive heart attack and died. The doctors think his defibrillator fired which made him black out at the beginning of the heart attack that killed him.

One of my fondest memories of hanging out with Mike was at The Wicked Hop where we had many after-work parties. Mike was fond of another co-worker, Raquel. In the course of the evening, he bought her one of every type of martini that was on the drink menu. Since there were so many, she shared them with me. It was a crazy night, and by the end of it both me and Raquel were on Mike's lap while he pretended to be Santa Claus.

The funeral was a little different than most. There was no clergy so his sister spoke first, stating that she didn't know about Mike's relationship with God - that was between Mike and God so she was going to talk about his life, then Mike's niece read a poem, his best friend spoke, followed by Mike's brother. The service ended with the Lord's prayer. After the service we got balloons, there were 64 of them, one for each year of Mike's life so some of us had to share since there were so many people there. We then headed to the parking lot to release them all at the same time, followed by a shot of Jack Daniels. It felt like an appropriate end to honor a nice man. It's too bad he couldn't been with us longer, his gentle nature will be missed.