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The Barony

/ Shane / 6 Comments

Back in May, I mentioned our nefarious plot to set ourselves up as Land Barons. Well, it’s official! We bought our land!

Proud Owners

It’s amazing how everything came together. This property was not even on our radar to begin with, but after some things fell through with some of the other properties, we found the perfect place. I’m so glad things did fall through, because this place was way better than any of the other places.

Number one, it’s huge! It’s over 20 acres, which is almost 8 times bigger than we started out looking at. Second off, it’s very close to Lake Michigan, and very close to a really awesome vacation town with shopping, restaurants, and tons of festivals. Third off, it’s full of really old, tall, amazing trees (mostly oaks and pines), and is very easy to navigate around on, because there is very little undergrowth (probably due to a combination of the sandy soil and the large, shady trees. Fourth off, did I mention it’s huge?

The children immediately ran off into the woods and were never heard from again

The fact that we actually own this property now is sort of hard to wrap your head around. All of this land is ours. All of these huge old trees are now owned by us. How is such a thing even possible?

Me, taking a trophy of our conquest

At the closing today, the realtor pointed out that when we started looking for land, Oliver couldn’t even walk yet. That seems like an impossibly long time ago.

We didn’t get to spend much time on the land today, since it was raining, but we did have to go and just sort of feel it for a minute. Evie did find time to christen the land (if you know what I mean…better get used to it, there’s no bathroom facilities there!). It makes me kind of sad that there’s no real reason to go back until Spring.

So phase 1 is now complete, and now we can move on to phase 2: fortifying against the zombie apocalypse!

Happy Thanksgiving!

/ Shane / Leave a comment

I’m not going to list all the things that I’m thankful for, since I did that last year and it pretty much covers it for this year too. I don’t know that I have anything new to add.

So sit back, eat up, and enjoy the first interesting Thanksgiving Day football game involving the Lions in my lifetime. Go Packers!

(Pictures are not my own)

The world is a little poorer today

/ Shane / Leave a comment

Sad news for the family this week; my Aunt Barb passed away. Aunt Barb has been a constant in the family for so long, always present at reunions, family gatherings, and, of course, Thanksgiving, even after health problems made that difficult. She provided warmth both figuratively and literally, with the many afghans she crocheted over the years (we have one on our bed right now, and several more around the house). So, goodbye Aunt Barb. Your absence will not go unnoticed.

If anything good can come from Aunt Barb’s death, it’s this: please consider becoming an organ donor. Aunt Barb lived with a transplanted liver for over 15 years. This extra time allowed her a chance to see her kids get established, watch her grandkids grow up, travel, and spend time with her husband after he retired. It bought her time, a lot of time, and there isn’t a price high enough to pay what that’s worth.

—

Barbara, age 61, of Janesville, died on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, at University of Wisconsin Hospital, Madison. She was born in Janesville on July 25, 1950, the daughter of Raymond and Geraldine. She graduated from Parker High School in 1968, and married Bernard in St. William Catholic Church on Feb. 22, 1969. She had been a Janesville resident all of her life and was retired from the Data Shop. Barb was a lifetime member of St. William Catholic Church, actively learning Braille, and attended support groups for transplant and loss of sight. She loved listening to books, doing cross stitch and crocheting.

She is survived by her husband, Barney; 3 children: Andrea, Mike and Charlene all of Janesville; 3 grandchildren: Brandon, Samantha and Calvin; 6 siblings: Mike (Donna) of Evansville, Kath of Janesville, Mary (Paul) of Janesville, Carol (Mark) of Milton, Donna (Stephen) of Texas and LuAnne (John) of Janesville; many nieces, nephews, other extended family. She was preceded in death by her parents.

Lasting memorials may be made to the University of Wisconsin Transplant Program, Madison.

2,000th Comment!

/ Shane / 1 Comment

Thank you to Alexis, who just provided the 2,000th comment on my blog!

This is very exciting to me, you have no idea. I’ve been watching for a month or so, as all the important dates in my life came and went (the year I was born, the year I graduated high school, etc.). And now we’re up to the 21st century! (Yes, I am aware that technically we need to get to 2001 comments for the 21st century.)

So anyway, thanks to everyone who comments on my blog. I love to hear from you! And special thanks to Alexis, for (unwittingly) being my 2000th. To thank her, how about we all go read her blog? Or better yet, we should all go order something adorable from her Etsy shop. I’m partial to the “Arrgh, Kiss Me Booty” onesie and the “I’d Rather Be Nursing” bib, but perhaps you would prefer a customized Pillow Sham (in other words, I don’t think she forces you to get the one with the picture of Jackson, Elliot, and Ayla on it, even if it is pretty awesome).

Congratulations!

/ Shane / 1 Comment

Thaddeus Dean, born at 9:56am on Aug 11. 6 lbs 15 oz., 20 3/4 inches. The new mom was obviously doing well enough to get on facebook and brag. 🙂

Congratulations Phil and Amy! We can’t wait to meet him!