Promzilla attacks!

Alright- maybe "Promzilla" isn't a fair title, but it sounds so cute! Lorie's daughter has her final high school formal dance this evening, and it's her Senior Prom. She has very cold weather to contend with-- it suddenly dropped from highs in the mid-70s to a high of 42 degrees today. There's also a chance of snow showers! Poor thing, but at least the dance won't be too warm. The main reason for this post is to show you how beautiful Lorie's daughter is- I mean--it's no surprise! She's got some good genes going in her favor, right? So amazing to think that Lorie's litle girl is going to graduate from high school soon and start college. Melanie was going through some pictures and found another picture of her dressed up -- standing in the same spot. So cute! Now that Melanie and Lorie are all verklempt, it's time for Lorie's little girl to ready for the Prom. She has appointments for hair up-dos and nails and makeup and photos and food and putting on the huge (or as she calls it, "poofy") dress and...... Wish us luck-- the legendary Promzilla is officially on the loose! ****Note: I'm sure Lorie's daughter would like all to know that the prom dress picture is only a dress picture. It does not include hair, makeup, nails, shoes, etc.... this was only a forced dress try-on for pictures. End note. ****

It's been awhile!- nothing to report

Well, there's not too much to report in Melanie and Lorie land. No news is good news, right? The animals are still getting along. The winter has moved into spring. Lorie and Melanie are still working at the same places... blah blah blah. It is now Passover, so there was a seder hosted at our house. Unfortuantely, we forgot to take really nice pictures, but we'll show you one from last year. This was from a smaller seder that we did, but it was still very nice. On Sunday night, Lorie and I went to a congregational seder up north. It wasn't our own congregation, but it was still very nice.
Yesterday, Melanie cleaned out all her fat clothes. This was quite an accomplishment! She threw away about three large bags, and two bags are headed over to the resale shop. Hopefully, she's make enough money to buy a few pairs of cute Eddie Bauer jeans! Finally, Lorie and Melanie are getting ready to plant their square foot garden! Melanie's birthday is coming up fast, and she's asked a friend to help her assemble the garden. Once the raised bed is complete, she can get her seeds in or plant the four flats of young veggies that she bought from the greenhouse. We'll have some great pictures, I'm sure.

Cats and Pears and Wieners-- OH MY!

First, here's an update on Izzy. All is wonderful with the kitty. Fig and Izzy fast became friends. They're cuddling and loving each other as only cats can do. There's still a little bit of fur that will fly, but for the most part, things have settled down quite a bit.

What an interesting day that Lorie and Melanie had today. Melanie had to attend a family gathering today, so Lorie and her daughter tagged along. They traveled through Madison, and made a quick stop. First, they ran to a Mexican Bakery. Good for Lorie. Bad for Melanie's diet. They got four HUGE donuts for only $3.85. This bakery just received rave reviews in the Sunday newspaper, and the store was crazy busy. We haven't eaten any of them yet, but I'm sure they'll be delicious. After that, we ran to a local grocery store to pick up our food for Passover. If we don't get the Passover food early, then there's nothing left, and we're stuck eating Matzo Ball Soup for a whole week! Matzo Ball Soup is delicious, but not for 7 days in a row! At Copps Grocery store, they had a variety of insanely large fruit. This was not fruit for sale, but fruit as decorations. Of course, Lorie's daughter insisted that she take lots of pictures. Finally, on our way out of town, we ran into the most famous car of all. Well, it's not THE most famous-- maybe the second most famous. Madison is known for its Oscar Meyer food processing plant. I know, I know... not very vegetarian, however, this is definitely part of Madison culture. Most everyone I know remembers the Wiener mobile. As I child, Melanie and Lorie remember seeing the wiener mobile at the State Fair in Milwaukee. Some kids remember the wiener mobile whistles that they'd pass out. Few ever saw the wiener mobile outside the gates of a fair.... but Madison residents see the famous vehicle quite often! Today, we got to see a spin off of the larger wiener mobile..... we saw the Lil' Link. Isn't she cute?

Lorie also wants to mention that we are now the proud owners of a new Torah Commentary. It's a Women's Commentary, and we're very, very excited about it! During our Torah studies, we often ponder how the interpretations would differ if a woman had written out a scholarly interpretation. Now we have a brand new resource. We're one of the first owners of the book as Melanie ordered through the Temple's Sisterhood. We can't wait to crack it open!

Introducing, Izzy!

YES!! It's been chaos here in the house! Anytime a new furbaby is added, a household will usually experience some sort of drama. Thankfully, no fur has flown-- just a few hisses and growling, but I think that all will work out in a few days. We don't have time to write much because we're playing with our new and existing babies-- but we will share a slideshow of our buddy! See the post below for some pictures!
We may take a poll for names, but right now we're leaning towards Izzy--- Newton, our baby that crossed the Rainbow Bridge, was named Isaac Newton. Izzy would be short for Isaac- thus a tribute to Newton. Let us know what you think!

Our new buddy, Izzy

Ice Dam be Damned!

Our problems are fixed-- for now. As the beautiful sun decided to come out on Tuesday, the ice dam on the roof backed up and caused water to seep into the house!!!! We're talking buckets of water (okay-- small buckets-- mini-buckets) dripped down the wall and on the floor. Actually, our front door won't open now because the hardwood floor is swollen. That night, we called our handyman, Mark.

Mark to the rescue! He came over the next day and chipped the ice dam off the roof. Note: this is NOT recommended normally. You have to weigh the options- potential roof damage from chipping OR water pouring into your home. We choose the waterless route. As of now, our roof has a LOT less snow and ice on it, and our sun room is much drier. The dripping stopped immediately, and we will deal with things in spring. For the door that won't open?--- Mark says that if we use our space heater by the door and put a fan blowing in that corner, that we should be way ahead of any wood rot or damage.

Now, Melanie works for a bank, and one of the last insurance claim check calls that she took was for an ice dam claim that was over 19 THOUSAND dollars of damage! How much did this issue cost Lorie and Melanie? 50 bucks. We are so lucky. We know that we have to do some investment in the spring with heat tape (those squiggly "ropes" you see on peoples' houses in the midwest) and some electrical updating to accomodate the heat tape, but overall-- we are two lucky ladies! This blog entry is dedicated to Mark-- our handyman hero.

Newton-- our furbaby- Rest in Peace

We've been pretty silent lately. Lorie and I have been mourning the passing of our furbaby, Newton. Melanie was adopted by Newton in 1996, and Lorie was added to their family in 2001. Although their time together was too short, they were very happy. Newton enjoyed spending time with his kitty buddy, Fig. They were the best pals that kitties could ask for in life!

Newton will be missed dearly. We love you, our angel furbaby.