I was almost in a bad car accident today. I was coming back from West Salem and turning left to go into Woodmans. I had a green arrow and was turning into the left lane. Since I had a green arrow, I assume oncoming traffic had a red light. One of those folks was turning right to go to Woodmans as well.  Read more »

When I was pregnant the first time and then a new mom and everything was fresh and scary, I had much more free time and spent it scouring the parenting boards and websites. In my surfing, I ran into a lady sharing her life in a blog called Bringing Up Ben & Birdy. This was 2004 and I didn't really know what a blog was.  Read more »

We took a tour of the La Crosse post office today with MOMS Club. I don't think the kids get much out of these tours since they're held during school hours and so usually attended by the 3 and unders, but I find them fascinating. It's a way to get to see the behind the scenes that you normally don't see.  Read more »

Yesterday we were out for a walk in Spring jackets enjoying the sunshine. Today I bundled up in my Winter jacket, hat, scarf, and gloves to shovel slop off my driveway while the bitter wind blew little balls of ice into my eyes. It could have been January were it not for the chatter of confused robins trying to figure out how to get to the worms under the snow. No matter how many years I live in Wisconsin, I will never get used to March. They say it comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. And every year my husband comments that it came in like a lamb so it's going to go out like a lion. Personally, I don't find the start of March at all lamb-like. To me, it's all lion start to finish. April is the month I look forward to.  Read more »

The Coulee Region has been Dippin' For a Decade, though I've only been Freezin' For a Reason since 2002. That was the year an acquaintance mentioned to me that she was not going to have anyone to take her photo when she plunged into a hole cut in the frozen over Black River... on purpose. Yep, I'm talking about the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics. I can't remember if I'd heard of it back then. It had been going on for a few years but, even if I'd heard of it, I hadn't given it much thought.  Read more »

Sunny the Sunfish looked on silently as the rest area quickly filled up. The sky blazed brilliant orange as the sun dipped below the bluffs across Lake Onalaska. Travelers down highway 35 sneaked peeks out the window and some, like me, stopped for a longer look. I was on a food run with a hungry family back home so I couldn't stay long, but the peak of the sunset is brief, anyway. By the time I stopped there were quite a few people gathered, all gazing across the water. Adults with cameras, families with small children, all strangers drawn together by the beauty on that last warm night of Autumn. Some chatted, some just stared in silence, and I ran around like a nut snapping photos.  Read more »

The internet killed my dream.

Back in 1985, with the help of a 300 baud modem and a friend with some phone numbers, I entered the online world. It was a fascinating place filled with hundreds of people I had never met, all computer geeks like me, and all living in the same area as me. It wasn't long before I wanted to run a BBS of my own but my age and lack of funds were against me. As I grew up and moved to new cities I found new people in new online worlds like little islands connected only by email that took days. And still I longed to play the host but it never worked out. Being a young female in the computer world of the '80s and early '90s, I was frequently made co-sysop, but it just wasn't the same.  Read more »