Today is a sunny day in Wisconsin, the winds have died down. Sure wish we could leave today. But there are two impending storms on the horizon.
One is the weather, which we are due for 10-12 inches tomorrow and into Monday. Hope all will be clear by Wednesday morning take off time.
The other storm is our political situation in Wisconsin. As many of you know, not only is Steve a hard working state employee of 33 years, but he is also the union president of the AFSCME WSEU Local 1800. The firestorm brewing in our capitol due to some horrendous legislation being pushed through is affecting all of our taxpayers, not just the state workers. I don't ever want to get political in my blog, and never want any arguments. But unless you live here and know what this is going to do to each tax payer, property owner, and state employee, it's hard for anyone on the outside to express opinions on this matter. The trickle down effect will harm all Wisconsin residents indirectly and property owners very directly. Personally it is going to hamper our meager household budget and really diminish the very low take home pay Steve gets. So I will end this topic with: "It's a heck of a storm and we don't see any calm waters for a long time"
Poor Steveio has to monitor the situation and it is causing great stress and turmoil for him, He has one more meeting on Tuesday night before we leave, and we are hoping nothing is going to cause him to have to stay here and forgo the vacation plans. We might as well enjoy our tax refund and our vacation, before having to come back and seriously tighten the belt and work on a much diminished household budget.
On a brighter note.. much brighter... I am inspired by Al and Kelly of http://thebayfieldbunch.com in their southwestern decor choices in their motorhome. I had found this lovely handwoven runner a while back at a rummage sale, no less. It was a mere dollar or two if I recall correctly. So I have added to our little table in our rig as a bit of southwestern color to encourage us on our journey and brighten up our motorhome.
and for my weaving buddies who read this blog, here are some closeups of the patterns....
And then a bit of knitting here... been doing some socks for the cute grandkids on five needles, toe up, with some fun self-patterning yarns....
And of course, I will wind up the blog today with some more pics of these absolutely darling grandkiddos that we are going to miss terribly while we go on our vacation.
CHELSEA
ALLEGRA
JAMESON
They are all going to come here tomorrow for lunch and the afternoon as a
Going Away Party for the Grandparents!
(Steve said we have to lock up the motorhome so they don't stuff the grandkids in there as stowaways.... and Heather even threatened to send along all Grandpuppies too! That means Tiger the Terrible yellow lab, and Domino and Angel the ratpuppies!!!!)
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Karen,
ReplyDeleteHoping the storm calms at some point. Do what you gotta do. Great pics of the runner. What a find. Love that design.
Sure hope all that political stuff does not put a damper on your travles. To have something like that alter my travel plans would infuriate me to no end. There are a few subjects I totally stay away from & politics is one them, sports is another & I won't bother going into the others. Regardless of what happens just get in your Motor Home & go, go, go:))
ReplyDeleteHope all goes well with Stevieo's meeting and your plans aren't altered, we look forward to seeing you although the rehabbinfg is still in progress and getting rid of the the debris is a major part, Hope you don't expect a squeaky clean house but we will do our best. I have to call and rent a dumpster and that should take care of it. Have fun on getting ready for blastoff. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Al....its go, go, go. time. And....I can see why you will miss those adorable grans! Be safe..and enjoy your time away from Wisonsin..
ReplyDeleteI am hoping that you get to go on this wonderfully planned vacation. You both could use a break!
ReplyDeleteI love the self patterning yarns and that table runner was a bargain! It is nice and cheerful. It is interesting how the fringe is tied.
Being from Wisconsin I have been following the situation. It seems like a loosing proposition no mater how it goes. One of the reasons we were glad to leave the state was the very high property taxes. But then my sister retired as a teacher at 55 and had a good pension and her full health care coverage until she was 65. The private sector doesn't get that!
ReplyDeleteTell Steve I'm sending supportive thoughts his way. I'm a teachers' union president here in southern California and standing in solidarity with the public employees in Wisconsin. I hope you can make it out of town as planned.
ReplyDeleteBut Merikay... she earned those extra health care premiums~! The only reason she got the 10 years of health care was because she used her accumulated unused sick days from during her working years. Those days worth of pay are all saved in a fund and used to offset the health care costs until medicare kicks in.
ReplyDeleteSo because she was a healthy person not using sick days, and didnt squander them for frivolous days off like some people do, she was able to accumulate them year after year to a private fund that is later paying it back to her health insurance premuiums during that window before medicare kicks in.
It really is just a primitive form of a health savings acct. and she didn't get anything FREE.....
Ask me, I know. Steve has saved ALL his sick days, never using them. He has been healthy and a good worker for 33 years. Now with the higher health care costs, it will only last 7 or 8 years, not the full ten.
Hi I came over from Crazy as a Loom..I agree with you when you say if you don't live there you don't really know...that is how I feel about Arizona and our immigration problem..if you don't live in Arizona you don't really know the other side of the problem.. looking forward to reading your past and future posts..
ReplyDeleteWhy is it always something comes up just when you're ready to leave on vacation?
ReplyDeleteI hope that a good resolution is found so there isn't dark clouds hanging over Stevio's head while you're traveling. You need to enjoy your trip.
Hope everything works out for your pending departure tomorrow. I am sure you are so excited. As you start to head south we start to head north.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics of the Grands!
Have fun!!!
Kevin and Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com