What exactly do you do all day?

That is the question I have been getting from my friends and family. Well you see, since June 6 I have been officially unemployed. I do have a job lined up. It starts on August 1st. But until that time, I will remain in a very relaxed state of mind.

What do I do during day?
Well, I normally don't sleep too late. I watch Frasier and the Gilmore Girls during the morning. Then I walk, get groceries if needed, run errands and then go to the pool. I have even been cooking dinner!! Yes, I know Anna is cooking, what a concept.

Today for example I watched the Golden Girls, Frasier and the Gilmore Girls. Then I went to the Farmer's Market and got peaches and honey. Then to Ann Taylor Loft. My dear friends this is the first time in three weeks that I have visited this store even though it is one block away. That takes discipline. I bought a shirt even though I had planned to buy many things but did not see much that I liked. Then I went to grocery store, ate lunch and now I am here typing.

I figure this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to do nothing but relax, read, watch tv, workout...shop. I might as well make the most of it because when August 1st comes around I have to go back to work, back to real life.

I hope you are having a good afternoon. I should go I have lots of nothing to do! =)

Concert on the Square

Note: The picture above has nothing to do with my post. The is a doorway at Wollersheim Vineyard. I didn't take any tonight at the concert but felt that I needed a picture anyway.

Jimmy and I attended another concert on the square tonight. I will say that Madison really knows how to celebrate the summer. I guess they have to because it is so cold and snowy during the winter. The concert was good and our picnic dinner was too. It is really interesting to people watch at the concert to see outfits and what other people are eating and drinking.

People are serious about wine trinkets. I mean they have special stands for their bottles and stands for the glasses so they do not have to set the glass on the ground. There was one picnic spot that had a low small table with a white table cloth and candles. Plus wine bottle and wine glass stands. They had a swanky picnic set up. We on the other hand had a black blanket, two chairs, sandwiches, fruit and wine. I liked our setup...most people had setups like ours except of course for the swanky couple.

Nothing much to say tonight but I wanted to post something just to say I didn't neglect the blog.

Thunderstorms...oh my

Thunderstorms here are a whole different ballgame than in North Carolina. Don't get me wrong back home we have nasty storms and hurricanes. This place on the other hand the storms seem much scarier. You can see them coming for miles with black clouds, rain, wind and hail. Heaven forbid there be a tornado. I think I would probably faint before I could seek shelter in our underground parking garage.

A walk through the prairie

Today Jimmy and I decided to take a walk at the UW Arboretum. There I experienced my first walk through a prairie.

When I think of the word prairie the only thing that comes to mind is Laura Ingalls Wilder and her adventures in Little House on the Prairie.

http://uwarboretum.org

The UW Arboretum is located in the middle of Madison and takes up about 1200 acres. The Arb. has wetlands, savanna, prairie, pine forests and a large horticultural garden.

The prairie was covered in thick grasses and a variety of flowers. To tell you the truth it really looks like a big field. I did have to ask Dr. Grass why a prairie is called as such only if it looks like a field. He of course gave me a very detailed description which basically sums to trees do not grow because the climate/soil/overpopulation of grasses and flowers. None the less it was pretty and we will go back for more walks and exploring.

Happy 4th of July!

This fourth of July Jimmy and I celebrated by attending a concert on the Capitol Square in Madison. We listened to the Madison Symphony and had a very tasty picnic. We celebrated with Jimmy's dad and Ginger's family.

The capitol in Madison is a smaller replica of our nation's capitol in DC. I have captured a reflection of it on the building.

Happy Fourth Everyone!!

Wish Blossoms and Cows

While riding in the car with my nephew I came to realize a funny thing about how the world may view Wisconsin. We were on our way back from visiting a vineyard with Jimmy's sister and her family. Joseph and Ella had decided to ditch their parents and ride with their cool aunt and uncle on the way back to Madison. While riding, Joey confidently said he could get us back to our apartment safe and sound. Did I mention he was six? He said the only directions we needed were to "go straight until you see cows." Jimmy and I both chuckled and then I realized that this was true. Everywhere you go in Wisconsin you see cows but also much more. Before I arrived to this state all I could think about was flat land, no beach, cows and cheese...oh yeah and the winter.

Well part of these ideas of how Wisconsin was before I came here have started to diminish. After having a few weeks to ride around I still see hundreds of cows but also rolling green hills, rivers, lakes, beautiful sunsets, boats.....I can go on but I will stop for now.

The wish blossoms part of the title is actually a cute name that I thought I would share with you. Joey calls dandelion seeds "wish blossoms" and I have decided to adopt his cool name for them. That is all, no big story just something cute.

(The pictures are of Wollersheim Vineyard about 25 minutes away from our place. The final picture is Ella holding a grape)

We have arrived

Well, Jimmy and I have arrived in Madison. Well, actually we live in Middleton.
Madison, Middleton they are basically one in the same kinda like Raleigh and Cary. Middleton is a great little town. It was actually voted the best town in America last year by Money Magazine. So take that Cary.

It has a very cute downtown which is only a mile away. This place is extremely biker and walker friendly. Madison is also biker and walker friendly and has a beautiful waterfront downtown.

I will post pictures soon!