This one's for you Russ

Bar games are fun. Especially when you beat people who are usually better than you at them. Russ and I spent some quality time at the famous Milwaukee drinking divehole Jim Mitchell's last night while he and his family were visiting for Christmas. Though he bested me in pool, I took 2 out of 3 games from him at the dart board. Boo ya Rusty! Our evening was enhanced with a couple of PBR's and some friendly banter with the crusty bartender who has probably worked there as long as the bar's been open (40+ years I believe). Lots of laughs were shared. Great seeing you Russ. Looking forward to seeing you soon in Denver.

What I do

In the long-running sitcom Friends, no one ever seemed to know what Chandler did for a living. I seem to be getting that a lot since I started my new job at IMS back in January. Even when I explain what branded merchandise is, many people still greet my explanation with a polite nod and a blank stare, indicating they still don't really understand. I thought a photo might sum it all up more succinctly.

Cross it off the bucket list

My bucket list is still long, but 3 weeks ago, I got to cross "attend Grand Slam tennis tournament" off it after I went to the US Open in New York. Watching live tennis at this level is amazing. We were lucky enough to get to watch both Venus Williams and Rafael Nadal play in Arthur Ashe stadium along with a number of other great matches in Louis Armstrong. The rest of the weekend in NYC was rounded out with a long day wandering around Central Park, a great Broadway show called In the Heights, a trip to MoMA and lots of shopping, great meals and general reverie with my good friend Megan Griffin. Someday, I'd love to get to London for Wimbledon, Paris for the French Open, and Australia for the Australian Open and complete my own grand slam as a fan.

That's Morgan, Captain Morgan

I have developed a strange and perhaps somewhat unhealthy obsession with Captain Morgan. Not the alcohol actually as I don't really like spiced rum, but the mascot himself. It started when I spied a full size replica of him at my companies Morton Grove, IL office (we handle the Diageo account, the manufacturer of CM) Naturally, I had to take a photo with him. A few months ago, I was hiking with my friends Jill and Dan in the Kettle Moraine and afterwards we stopped to enjoy a beer at a nearby pub. On the patio, who was there? The Captain of course. This Captain is a little obscene. Notice his hand gesture in the photo. Since then, I've launched a full fledged effort to take as many photos of me with him as possible. Game on! A few weeks ago, I was at a preseason Packer game with my girlfriends, and who came strolling through the parking lot...you got it. These pics tell the whole story. It's my understanding that there is another Captain at a bar in downtown Milwaukee called Brothers. I plan to get there soon to take photo #4 and I hope to find many more Captains throughout my travels and escapades. No one can say that I don't have goals, however misguided.

Drumroll please!

Here she is!.....the latest addition to "The Reching Crew". Hayden Anna Rech. Born September 2nd, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. Weighing in at 8 lbs. 14 oz. Height: 20 inches. We are so excited to welcome Hayden to our family. Personally, I'm super excited to buy her adorable outfits. Let the spoiling commence.

Summer of Change

More apologies for the terrible frequency of my posts. A lot has been happening this summer, but the biggest news for our family is that Peg, Russ and the kids have moved to Denver. Needless to say, more than a few hearts were heard breaking all over southeastern Wisconsin, maybe mine the loudest. But, change is good. It helps us appreciate things. What we have, what we want and it makes us really examine ourselves. What mark we want to leave; where we want to leave it. So far, the Bueges, now of Denver CO are embracing their new lives; exploring their new surroundings, making a home, making friends. I am as excited for them, as I am sad for us. Good luck Bueges. We love you.

Playing with the Boys

Memorial Day weekend 2010 was spent in Las Vegas catching up with the boys. We did a little bit of site seeing at the new City Center complex and hiking in Red Rock Canyon, but most of the weekend was spent eating, drinking and most of all, laughing.

This time around, I got to eat at the restaurant Ross works at in the Monte Carlo hotel. My arteries will never forgive me, but I don't care, it was worth it. We started the meal with seared fois gras (sorry to all my vegetarian friends out there but it was mind blowingly good). Then, we were the chef's guinea pigs as he had us sample a new appetizer he was working on, Bison carpaccio. Next up, french onion soup followed by Lobster Thermador. I've never had it in a restaurant, so I had to take this pic. It was amazing!

On the last night we were there, my friends Chris and Brian from Milwaukee arrived in town for a little sun and fun. We hit a fun local hot spot called The Blue Martini, then proceeded down to the strip for a little gambling.






Some like to class it up at nice casino's like the Bellagio or The Wynn. But, not this motley crew. We promptly made our way to the Imperial Palace, perhaps one of the last hold outs from the old, seedy underbelly days of Vegas. But, we didn't really care. The gambling minimums are low, and the booze is still included. We were all in. I'm not much of gambler as I hate to lose money. But, I was the only one who walked away that night with positive cash flow. I played Roulette for about an 1 1/2 hrs. had two drinks and still pocketed a tiny little $16 profit. Not bad. As always, Vegas was a blast. I'm looking forward to Ross and Jassen's visit to Wisconsin at the end of the month.

Zoom zoom zoom

Congratulations to Ross who bought his first brand new car the other day (9 miles on the odometer when he left the dealership). Ross has driven some crap in his day (well, who among us hasn't?) including a Pontiac Horizon and my parents hand me down Toyota Corolla. That same tiny white souped up lawn mower got Ross, all his stuff and me out to California when he moved there in 1997. I don't think any of us actually thought that little Corolla would make it all the way from Wisco to Cali, and when it stalled once in eastern New Mexico, we were pretty convinced that our prediction had come true. Miles from a town (but luckily armed with a cell phone and good senses of humor) we coasted to stop, let the car cool down and took our chances that it would restart. Much to our surprise, it did and proceeded to get us through the rest of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and on into California. Ross drove that thing for a few more months without incident, then proceeded to buy another Corolla, this one about a year old. That car was kind to Ross and got him through almost 12 years in crazy Los Angeles traffic and sweltering summers in Vegas. Ross called me to tell me about his new ride, a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, the other day and made me laugh when he said "Mary, it's like driving a Lamborghini" In comparison to the '97 Corolla, I'm sure he's right. It's all about the reference point. Here's what I won't miss about Ross's old car....not be able to see the dashboard at night. His dashboard lights have been burnt out for years. Safety first as always with that kid. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing his sweet new ride when I visit at the end of May. I'm sure it corners like it's on rails.

What's on my mind?

I need to rant. Today, I'm down ON technology. Absolutely hatin' it. Now, I get the time saving advantages, social networking, blah blah, that it allegedly brings to our lives. But, today I fought technology, and technology won. Example #1. Today, one of my co-workers called me to asked me if I had got a voicemail she had left me and if I needed her to assist me with anything. I innocently replied "What voicemail?" She had left me a voicemail a few hours earlier, but my little voicemail red indicator light wasn't lit on my phone. So, I enter the voicemail system to discover to my absolute dismay that I had 17 (yup 17!) new voicemail messages dating back almost 3 weeks. Now, keep in mind, I'm new at my company. Not returning client and vendor voice mails; totally uncool. Funny enough, I was grousing incessantly about a client last week who wasn't returning my calls...You guessed it folks, 2 of those 17 messages were from her. Now, according to another co-worker, inadvertently turning off that indicator light in the labyrinth that is the automated VM attendant is very easy. I think she just felt sorry for me. I honestly don't remember being anywhere even close to that menu choice. I say the system did it without me cause it hates me. That's my story...I'm sticking to it. Example #2. Tonight, I came home and begrudgingly went onto Facebook mostly to try and block a few so called "friends" who refuse to stop telling me how many chickens they have raised on their damn farm. So anyway, needless to say, I can't figure out how to block these people's posts without defriending them. However, as I'm rooting around on the FB, I see that I have a new message that I swear wasn't there a few days ago, but is from early March. It was from a neighbor of my friend Karen in Minneapolis asking if I could give her some advice about some good stores in Milwaukee where she could possibly sell her jewelry line. She was planning on being here at the end of the month and was hoping I could help her. Well, it's the end of the month and I never responded because I didn't see it. So, I guess you could blame that one of on me and my total lack of competence. Whatever. Seven year olds understand Facebook. Maybe, I should just bag the whole thing and go totally Amish. I just might....they seem so peaceful...probably because they don't use technology. Please don't comment on this blog. I'm sure I won't be able to figure out how to access the comments. Sigh.

Johnny, what do you make of this?

I read that Peter Graves died yesterday. He was an actor known to most older people for his role in the TV series, Mission Impossible, but I remember him best as Captain Oveur in Airplane! I distinctly recall the first time I saw the movie. I was a freshman in college. I was supposed to be studying for a test but wandered into the living room to hang with my dad for a few minutes. He was channel surfing and came across a late night showing of the film. I thought I would just sit down for a few minutes and then get back to studying, but two hours later, Dad and I were still there. I'm not sure how I did on that exam. Probably not as well as I would have had I not got distracted. It was all completely worth it. Dad and I were both night people. I have so many found memories of staying up late with him when I was a kid, watching The Tonight Show, or a baseball game, or an old movie. We had a lot of laughs that night, watching Airplane! The best part of that movie, obviously, is the dialog. All these years later, most people can still quote at least one line. Here a a few of my favorites:

"Johnny, What do you make of this?" "Well, I can make it a hat, a broach, or a pterodactyl"

Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"

"Guess I picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue."

Hanging Lady: Nervous?
Ted Styker: Yes
Handing lady: First time?
Ted Stryker: No, I've been nervous lots of times

Elaine: "There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane? "

Johnny (after unplugging the runway lights): Just kidding!

Young Boy with Coffee: Excuse me, I happened to be passing, and I thought you might like some coffee. Little Girl: Oh, that's very nice of you, thank you. [takes coffee] Little Girl: Oh, won't you sit down? Young Boy with Coffee: Cream? Little Girl: No, thank you, I take it black, like my men.

Elaine Dickinson: Would you like something to read? Hanging Lady: Do you have anything light? Elaine Dickinson: How about this leaflet, "Famous Jewish Sports Legends?"

A picture is worth a thousand words

The Rech Family is extremely excited that there is going to be another little Rech in the world in about 6 months. Andrea is due the first week of September, and after 14 years since Peg's kids were born, we are all thrilled to have a new baby to spoil. Right now, at about 13 weeks in utero, the baby is about 3 inches long. It's hard to tell much from this ultrasound picture except that I think the baby has his/her Auntie's Mary's cute nose. Congratulations Steve and Andrea!

Olympics!

I love the winter Olympics. I was lucky enough to attend the winter games in Salt Lake City in 2002. The energy, the spirit, and the camaraderie at the Olympics is infectious. When you are at the games, you honestly can't believe that there is any conflict or strife anywhere in the world. Everyone is there in peace to share their common love of competition and sport and desire to watch dreams come true. Unfortunately, this year, my schedule has been crazy, so I haven't watched as much coverage as I would like. Thanks to two DVR's, I recorded quite a bit and have been trying to catch up, sometimes days later. Even though I know the final medal results it's still exciting to watch all the drama unfold.

This year, my favorite athletes haven't actually all been Americans. Of course, you have to root for Shaun White, Evan Lysacek and Apollo Anton Ono, but not exclusively. For example, my favorite alpine skier of these Olympics hasn't been come-back kid, Bode Miller, but Norwegian skier, Aksel Lund Svindal. Maybe it's his sad back story (his Mom died in childbirth when he was 8), or his comeback story (after a ridiculous crash in Beaver Creek in 2007). Or, perhaps it's the touching connection he has with his father, clearly his biggest supporter. I loved his humble personality, his sense of sportsmanship, and let's face it, the guy is easy on the eyes! (yup, that's his pic above) And, how can you not admire the grace and the strength of Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette who kept herself together and skated to a bronze medal just days after her mother died unexpectedly of a heart attack. The dedication of Olympic caliber athletes is amazing; watching them do what they have trained their entire lives for is inspiring. If you ever have the chance to attend the Olympic games, take it. The feelings and the joy of the entire experience will stay with you a lifetime.

And then there were two... Goodbye Bella

I know what you're thinking. What kind of self respecting blogger would only post a blog every two months? Do you think Ashton, Demi and John Mayer only tweet every two months? Well, my excuse for not writing has been pretty valid. For a short while, I had 4 jobs, then 3 and now finally two. Extricating myself of that 3rd job selling wedding photography, wasn't as easy I thought it would be. I guess I underestimated how many brides would have follow-up questions after I sold them their packages. I don't know, call it integrity...or call it stupidity, it just makes me feel bad to sell them all something, and then sort of leave them high and dry. Someone from the company would have followed-up with them, but, I feel personally responsible for finishing what I started. So, it took me about 2 weeks longer to finish everything up. Bella Pictures was a job when I needed one and I'm grateful for it. Would I ever take another commission only sales job again? Not unless it's completely necessary....bye bye Bella.