Thanksgiving

We had a very fun Thanksgiving this year.  After going to spend some time with Kris's dad at his apartment, we drove up to have Thanksgiving dinner with my Aunt and her family, which was nice since we never get to see them even though they only live 20 minutes away.  It was a little bit hectic with children and dogs and cooking etc. all going on, but we still managed to be able to visit.  The funny thing was it ended up being a lot like the Thanksgivings I remember as a child with my grandparents.  There was the card table in the corner for the kids, and unfortunately, one of my adult cousins  was stuck at the kiddie table.  It was sort of like a bad joke, I felt bad for her.

At the end of the night as we were getting ready to go, my youngest cousin ended up splitting open his forehead.  I'm not quite sure how it happened, but it got pretty hectic with everyone scrambling.  Kris and I joked that it was a good thing there were two doctors in the house.  Luckily it wasn't all that awful.  My aunt ended up getting the bleeding to stop and I think she was planning on just derma-bonding it closed, so it should be ok.  I am hoping that we stay in better touch, but that will remain to be seen.  With our busy schedules as well as hers, it sounds good to say we will, but who knows.

Chips in the Car

Even as recently as about two years ago, I used to be fanatical about keeping my cars washed.  However, in the last couple of years, I haven't had time to hand wash the cars on a regular basis and I have resorted to taking them to automatic washes.  However, since I have done this, I haven't been giving the cars the once over like I should.  The result is that I have found a few chips in the paint of my car. 

There is one in the hood, most likely from a stone or some other sort of road debris.  But I have a couple of chips and scrapes/scratches on the passenger side door and fender, in the exact spots that would line up with a car door.  This, to me, is the ultimate in being rude/inconsiderate.  I mean how much of an a-hole do you need to be to just let your car door fly open into the car next to you?  So now, as much as I hate to do it, I am going to need to take it in to get the spots fixed, because with winter coming, and all the road salt that gets used here, it is just inviting rust to start, since the spots are down to the base metal underneath.  This is something I just have no tolerance for.

Winter Ready

I think that we are finally winter ready after last weekend, at least for the most part.  I actually had to end up cutting my grass on Sunday.  I think this is the latest in the year that I have ever had to cut it.  I cut it more in six weeks in October & November than I did in all of August and September.  I dropped the mower deck a notch this time though so even if it grows a little more before the final killing frost I shouldn’t need to cut it again.

I also got the patio furniture put away and the grill covered, and I also was able to patch up the big cracks in the concrete from the hot weather over the summer.  I just hope that the driveway stays together over the winter.  I am not quite ready to rip it up and have it replaced just yet.

Teacher Conferences

We had Sarah’s teacher conferences a couple of weeks ago at the high school.  It was quite interesting meeting her teachers since we couldn’t make the open house in September.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Sarah has taken quite an interest in science and math classes.  I suppose that’s because those were the subjects that always interested me.  And I think her teachers in those classes are very enthusiastic about the material they teach.  That also makes a huge difference.

We also found out that Sarah is going to be eligible to take AP courses in her junior year.  That would be a big plus for her I think, especially if she ends up going to a state college/university.  When I went to UWM, the biggest waste of time (and one of the reasons I didn’t get my degree from there) was the first two years of general classes that had absolutely nothing to do with your major.  If Sarah can get those out of the way in HS, and get college credit for them, she can start right in on classes that will help toward he major, and that will put her in better shape in the long run in terms of graduating on schedule.

But enough of that, the main thing is that she is getting an A- average right now, which is a good thing and her teachers all say she is keeping up with her work just fine.  So for now the worry level is low for Kris and me.

Alison's teacher conference was about a week earlier than Sarah's.  It was actually in October which just shows how far behind I am in keeping things updated.  We met with Alison's teacher and went over her work so far and just like always, we received glowing reviews.  Alison came along to help her teacher present some of her work so we could see what she has been doing.  Her teacher said that she is all set to start middle school, which I guess is what we are shooting for in 5th grade, right?

2012 Indian Invite

Last weekend, we kicked off the competitive cheerleading season with the Menomonee Falls Indian Invite.  This year was Alison's first year with the Jr. Indians squad and Sarah's first JV competition.

The Jr. Indian routine was the same as the one they worked on for Jr. Indians night at the football game this past season.  So it wasn't much new.  In fact, it is usually the same, or just about the same every year since Sarah started.  But I think it was exciting for Alison to actually perform at a competition even if it was only an exhibition performance.

Junior Indians - Indian Invite from Dennis Hahn on Vimeo.

I was more curious about how Sarah's team would do.  Last year's JV squad was very good and many of them are now on the Varsity team.  I actually don;t think there are any seniors on this year's Varsity squad.  But Kris and I were both pleasantly surprised at how well they performed.  I wasn't wild about the music for their routine, and luckily we couldn't really hear it because the sound system in the gym was so poor.  I don't know if there was a problem with the sound itself, or if their system is just that bad and needs to be replaced.  There were a couple other parents who said the same thing, so at least I know it wasn't just me.

MFHS JV Routine - Indian Invite from Dennis Hahn on Vimeo.

Halloween 2012

Halloween 2012 has come and gone.  I think Alison wants to go trick or treating one more year.  That was what Sarah did, even though she went when she was in 8th grade, but that was just sort of a last minute thing, and she didn't go around the neighborhood, it was just a few houses with friends as they were walking back to one of her friends' houses.

This year the time was shortened from 5:30-7:30.  It was a rush getting home from work and helping Kris get Alison ready.  In fact, this year, Alison didn't want Kris and I to take her, so instead, Sarah served as her chaperone.  She left at about 5:50, and was back here around 7:00.  She went as "Morticia Adams".  I think that was the costume Sarah used when she was in 5th grade.  I could go back and look, but I'm too lazy.

So I stayed home and with Kris and handed out candy to kids.  I was surprised that there really weren't that many kids.  We had a big push for about a 35-40 minutes, and once we got to 7:00 we didn't have any more trick or treaters.  We also had a couple of little kids ask if Sarah was home.  I had no idea who they were, and Sarah obviously didn't either.  We even had one of Sarah's teachers stop by with his son and ask if she was home (it's no big surprise though, because he lives right down the street).  And this year, I don't think we had quite as many older kids as we have had in the past.  Does that mean that we are getting old and all the kids are moving out of the neighborhood?  hmmmm.... 

 This was Alison's booty for the night.  Not bad for about and hour's work.

And of course, it wouldn't be a good Halloween without getting compliments on my jack o'lanterns.  I counted six compliments from parents and at least three or four kids who were impressed enough to say "wow, cool pumpkins".  I even spent a couple of minutes talking pumpkin carving and preservation with one guy, giving him tips on how to make them last without drying out.  I guess that makes me quite a nerd.

The New Phone

Last week we finally went and got Sarah her new phone, an HTC One.  I was a little bummed to see that of the choices I had, there were only a couple non-smart phone choices.  It would have been fine if not for the extra $$$ to get a data plan.  Then again, Sarah was always coming up with $20-$30 in data charges each month for whatever reason, so now I guess we're covered.

That leaves me as the only one without a smart phone.  I can upgrade mine in a couple of months so I might look at one then.  I really want to get one that I can use to double as an electronic organizer so I can get rid of the Day Timer I currently use.  But like I said, that won't be for a couple of months yet.  And who knows, by the time that I can upgrade, they'll be a couple of models removed from whatever the current models are now, and I am sure more expensive.