Steve Martin is the God of Comedy

Dad's Favorite Christmas Present 2007

The New Staff at ISS December 2007

We finally have a new director at ISS. Laurie Cox has joined us from USC as of December 2007.

Front-Left to Right; Jason, Kristin, Jacquie and Travis
Back Row-Left to Right; Stephanie, Elisabeth, me, Cameron, Marilee, Laurie and May Lee

Youssou N'Dour In Madison

Steve and I got to see Youssou at the UW Memorial Union December 6th. It was an amazing show. Probably one of the best concerts I have ever been to.

Tim Burton News

Burton And Disney Team Up
About a month ago, one of the executives at Disney let slip that the House of Mouse would be teaming up with an influential figure of stop-motion animation for a new picture. At the time, we had no choice but to speculate Tim Burton was the mysterious figure. Sure enough, a month and a half later, Variety has confirmed a two picture deal between Disney and Burton.

The rumors that followed the speculation hinted that we would see a full-length version of Frankenweenie, Burton's classic short film about a boy that brings his dog back to life. Indeed that is the plan. One has to enjoy the irony of Disney joining up with one of their former employees to make a bigger budget version of the short film that was part of the reason Burton stopped working for Disney in the first place.

Frankenweenie isn't the only planned film, however. First Burton will direct a new rendition of Alice in Wonderland. There's no indication if the adaptation, scripted by Linda Woolverton (The Lion King), has anything to do with Disney's classic version of the Lewis Carroll story, but Burton's version will be part of Disney's expanding 3-D animated picture library. Unlike Disney's Pixar movies, Alice will combine live action with motion captured animation, like this weekend's Beowulf.

Spencer House is SOLD

Mom and Dad's house in Spencer is SOLD! The signing is this Friday at 9am. House was priced at $55,900-they accepted an offer of $55,000.

My Mom is SO happy. Mom, Dad, Steve and I are all going out to dinner Friday night to celebrate.

The man that bought the house is newly single and wanted the furniture and items we staged the house with---FANTASTIC.

Such Great News!

My Life

Here is a photo so you can see my perspective on life for the past week.
Laying on the sofa with my computer and my pups! Lucy always has to be right next to me and Pilar is way down on the end. Pilar is a good little nurse,she follows me around when I get up and stays right next to me all the time. She seems "worried" about me and keeps a close eye on me. Lucy? Well= let's just say she keeps the sofa warm while I'm away!!

It's been 10 days since my surgery to repair the hernia in my vajaja. I am doing fine. I just get so tired so darn fast. I am going back to work on Monday, Oct. 22nd. Wish I could stay home longer, but don't have any sick time left.

Mike and Judy Brodd Visit

Mike and Judy Brodd came for a visit and we have a fantastic time. They arrived September 26, a Wednesday eve and we all met on the Memorial Union Terrace. Marilee and Cameron came over and joined us and we have such a nice visit.
The next morning-we loaded up the dogs and headed to New Glarus. We spent a few hours exploring the town and joining the other tourists in the perfect weather. From there we went to Mineral Point and did some sightseeing for the rest of the day.
We finished the day at Sleepy Hollow with a bonfire under a perfect starry night.
Next day, Friday, We went to Prairie du Chien and took a tour of Villa Louis and the Fort Crawford Museum. We took a lunch break over in McGregor Iowa on the Mississippi River. Another perfect day. On Saturday, we spent part of the day enjoying the Gays Mills Apple Festival. That afternoon we lounged at Sleepy Hollow and later that day took a drive through Amish country near Cashton, WI.
We had a lazy Sunday and after a late breakfast Mike and Judy headed back to Door County.
It was a wondeful vist and we had so much fun.

Tak Splits Some Wood

Tak and Brian joined us at Sleepy Hollow this past weekend. Tak tried her hand at splitting some wood for our bonfire. Only problem is that the splitting axe weighs more than she does!



Tak Chopping Wood September 22, 2007 015.mpg

Remodel on our Cottage Grove home

We are almost done with all the remodeling at our home in Cottage Grove. Just a few finishing touches left on the outside of the house. Steve is working on the landscaping now and grass should be growing in a few weeks. We use the screen room a lot! The mosquitoes are SO bad right now that screen room is the only place to be!

Flooding in SW Wisconsin

Sorry-We neglected to tell you how Sleepy Hollow faired during all the awful flooding in SW Wisconsin.

As we thought, everything was fine. Just a little water in the basement. Steve has designed the layout of the landscape to channel water away from the house and into the ravine--and it worked perfect! No washouts in the yard, hill or driveway at all. Perfect.

Some of our neighbors didn't come out as well. The Knapp Creek that runs through our property and down into the Hollow was WAY out of it's banks. Parts of Sleepy Hollow Road were washed away. A brand new intersection just completed this summer at the corner of South Sleepy Hollow Road and Sleepy Hollow Road was ruined. And our neighbors driveway (a town road) Oak Street was washed out real bad.

We have taken photos and put them on our webshots if you are interested.

http://family.webshots.com/album/557639456JZzShJ?start=84

Thanks to all that inquired about the Hollow and showed concern.

S & M

Aunt Elma Mae 1929-2007

My dear Aunt Elma passed away this past weekend.
I will miss her wonderful laugh and her constant love.

Elma Mae Hilton

Elma Mae Hilton, 78, of Owen died Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, at Clark County Health Care Center. Memorial services will be at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 4, at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Withee.

Elma was born June 18, 1929, in Lincoln, Neb., to Emmett and Isabelle (Hoyle) Wallick.

She is survived by her husband Fred Hilton of Owen, her children David (Leslie) Hilton of Loyal, Nyle (Jessica Ham) Hilton of Tomah, Diana (Robert) Wagner of Owen, six grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and one sister, Mary Lou Querin of Cottage Grove.

Sometimes you just need to laugh

Mom Schultz on a Billboard

Mom Schultz is on a big electronic billboard located on the Beltline!

she is also in print ads in all the papers and on the web;
http://www.stmarysstories.com/internet/home/stmarysstories.nsf

Flooding in Crawford County/Sleepy Hollow

Our Sleepy Hollow home is located in Crawford County and our mailing address is Gays Mills. The county was hit hard with flooding and reports say that 80% of the roads in the county have been compromised. We just received word from a friend today that he was in the area and drove up to our house. He reports that the driveway is fine and there's no evidence of flooding or damage at our house. Good news.
Steve and I are leaving tomorrow afternoon after work to spend a couple days at the Hollow. I am very concerned about our neighbors who live down the road from us in a floodplain.
I will keep you posted.
here is an article I copied off MSNBC;
Gays Mills is located in the Kickapoo Valley and is just one of the many areas that was hit hard by rain this weekend. As a result, the town is now flooded by the overflowing Kickapoo River.

GAYS MILLS - Gays Mills is located in the Kickapoo Valley and is just one of the many areas that was hit hard by rain this weekend. As a result, the town is now flooded by the overflowing Kickapoo River. Homes in Gays Mills are surrounded by water. Basements are flooded and businesses are ruined. This town was evacuated Sunday and people were rushed from their homes. Many Gays Mills residents spent the night with friends and relatives, some at a high school a few miles away. TODAY’S TMJ 4 talked with Kathy Irwin who was reunited with her pet cocker spaniel just a short time ago. “I didn’t sleep last night. I just kept crying that they were in there by themselves. Nowhere to go to the bathroom, nothing to eat. I didn’t know if there’s sewer water running through the house. Just kind of terrifying. You just don’t know what’s going on,” Irwin said. Local volunteer responders are requiring people to wear life vests when they go to their houses. There is concern about sewage in this murky water. We smelled gas from mangled oil-fire furnaces tossed around by the flood waters. “It’s devastating, it’s devastating. A lot of people wont’ come back I’m afraid. It’s hard on a little town,” Irwin said. Governor Doyle is touring damage in Gays Mills now. He told TODAY’S TMJ 4 what the state will do next. “Our first priority is making sure everyone's safe and accounted for. Then we're going to have to make sure just the basic infrastructure is safe. Then, help people get their lives back together," Doyle said. There are bridges that will have to be evaluated and possibly rebuilt. Mud slides will have to be cleared from roads, and the governor says people here will likely qualify for federal disaster relief money. “When we have a better handle on what the actual damages are, then we make the application to the federal government for relief. That will still be some days away,” Doyle said. The National Guard is on stand-by right now. Most of the recovery efforts are being handled by local volunteers.

Cottage Grove ReModeling

I haven't had a chance to post so I have neglected to keep you up on all the news.
We have been remodeling our house in Cottage Grove and as you can imagine, it is a mess- I really want to clean and the contractor says he will be done this week.

We have added a beautiful screen porch in the front of the house. Steve and I spend most evenings out there. We have done some landscaping and added alot of flowers and shrubs around the front. We bought a beautiful fountain, and Steve installed it last week.

We created a new door on the back of the house and that is now the new entry. There is a covered porch there and a handicap ramp leading up to it. When you enter there is a nice mudroom we created out of the laundry room. The laundry is now behind a cool frosted door on the side.

We are making the house handicap friendly by adding ramps and railings.

Once I get some pictures taken I will post them.

House In Spencer Newly Listed

Mom and Dad’s house is now listed with Century 21.
There are some really nice photos and there is a virtual tour.
I’m happy it looks really nice—now it just has to sell!

http://www.c21goldkey.com/details.cfm?MLS=706128

The Shufflin Duprees

On Saturday, July 21, Steve and I went to LaCrosse to see the Shufflin Duprees.
If you remember, this is the band that played at my 50th birthday party last year.
My friend, Joe Hauser,sings and plays keyboards and harp. I love ya, Joey!
As always they were amazing! Check out their webpage when you have time and order their new CD. You will love it.

Chris and Wendy

A wonderful photo for you all to see of my brother Chris and his new love, Wendy.
They are both so very happy together and we are so happy for them.
Chris and Wendy are planning a visit to Wisconsin in August.

Job Well Done

Mom called last night to tell me Janet Ammons (their agent) called her and was amazed at the job done on the house. She asked if I would like to do some of her other houses she’s selling!!
Jan has showed the house multiple times since the updating and has called people to come back for a second look.
I am sure she will be asking Mom to resign the contract with her very soon. It’s up to Mom and Dad who they want to list with so we’ll see what they do…

We were getting ready to do the house staging for so long that Steve and I are still in the habit of checking the curb for free stuff and watching ads for sales-we have to laugh!
Guess I do need to stage another house.
Only my niche' will be houses under $100,0000 and I will call my company "Cheapskate Staging"!

Photos from Operation Sell That Spencer House

by mquerin


Photos are now posted on Webshots.

The Agent has now contacted me.

ok, I take back some of what I said. The agent emailed me today.
There is an open house tonite and she plans on taking new photos and updating the posting.

Freakin Fries

Steve's Favorite Video

Real Estate Agent Update

I sent a long email to the agent telling her what we did to the house and asking her to update the listing.
She in turn called my Mom last evening! Said she didn't know we were coming, that I didn't contact her. Hmmm, that was in the email I sent her telling her when we would come, where we'd be staying and Steve's cell phone#.
She in turn called Mom after that email and said it wasn't necessary to do that work we should just lower the price.

Anyway-----

The house is being showed tonite, so the agent should be amazed at all we got done.

Update On Operation Sell This House

We worked our butts off this past weekend. By Saturday afternoon, my fingers were literally bleeding from washing all the walls and woodwork. But it was a lot of fun, really. We worked on Saturday from 7:30am until 10pm. And on Sunday worked from 9-4:40 (a short day!)

All the furniture and decorations that we added can stay with the house if someone wants them.

We added to the house in addition to furniture, pictures on the wall and décor;

Washer and Dryer

Microwave

TV in kitchen

Patio bench

New lite fixtures

I painted the front door and front handrail. Steve added a brand new light fixture by the front door. So the curb appeal is much better now. A lot of weeds got pulled and we have contracted a neighbor to weed wack in addition to mowing the lawn. We added a bench and decorations to the patio area.

Steve cleaned the basement and garage.They were pretty bad. We hauled bags of trash home. In the garage Dad had so many different hooks hanging all over the ceiling-so Steve removed all the little hooks and wire and ropes and pulleys, and it looks so nice and neat now.

We removed a huge standard and brackets shelves from the living room and patched and sanded the holes, then entire living room then got a fresh coat of paint. We also removed a broken window in the living room and are having the glass replaced, it will be put back in soon. (Mom said the window has been broken for 10 years!)

I spent hours scrubbing the kitchen and degreasing the cabinets, so now it shines! I also updated the cupboard hardware so they look like new now... Steve shimmed the frig and now with a dining room table, microwave stand and butler cart, you don't notice the slant to the floor.

Walls and ceilings were cleaned, carpets deodorized and vacuumed. I used Febreeze on all the curtains after cleaning them and now the house has a nice fresh scent.

I put higher watt bulbs in many fixtures so it will be nice and bright when you turn on all the lights. The is also a lamp in each of the bedrooms that can be turned on when showing the house in addition to the ceiling fans to really brighten up the rooms. When you turn on the overhead lights, the fans are set to low so they will move around some air while people are looking around.

The bathrooms got scrubbed and deodorized. The bath off the living room was a horror show. Someone had used the toilet and it smelled so bad you could hardly stand it there-it REEKED!! And the bowl and lid were mildew/mold city.(See, the water has been shut off since February) I can't even imagine how the agent, Jan, showed the house with the bathroom being like this. People must have fled screaming during the open houses!!

So we put a new toilet seat in there and a new shower curtain. And then lots of potpourri and candles and spa like towels and do dads were added.

We sure had fun and have a real sense of accomplishment.

We did get to relax Saturday nite at the hotel in Marshfield. We hung out in the hot tub with Dad and had a good time.

I took LOTS of before and after pictures of the house (and pictures at the pool at the hotel) I should get those posted tonite or tomorrow. So you can see how beautiful the house is now.

You know the real estate agent, Jan, never came over while we were there?! And I had written her and invited her. I wrote her this morning and asked her to update the info on the web site listing-

Well we did meet with an new agent from Century 21, Gary, and he seemed real nice and he will try to sell the house for Mom and Dad when Jan's listing has expired August 1.

Photos soon.

Operation "Sell This Spencer House"

My first blog entry...how exciting!
I have decided to join the 21st century and give this a whirl. So here goes.

Operation "Sell This Spencer House"

My parents are still trying to sell their old house in Spencer,WI. It has been on the market since Feb 2007.
They have lowered the priceto $59,900, it was $64,900, but not one offer.
If you are a fan of HGTV, like I am, and if you watch those decorating shows, like I do, you know that an empty house is hard to sell. And that when people see an empty house it is hard for them to picture themselves living there. It is also too easy to focus on the problems in the house if there is nothing to distract their eye.

SO, Steve, my parents and I are going up to Spencer the weekend of July 13th to paint, do some cosmetic repairs and stage the house with furniture. It's Operation "Sell This House"!!

After YEARS of watchinghome makeovers shows, flipping shows and staging shows on HGTV, A&E, and TLC I feel I am ready to take on this project. And Steve gets to come along for the ride!

On Saturday, the 15th of July, we will also be meeting with a Century 21 agent to discuss swtching to his company to see he can do a better job of selling the house.

So here is the house at it was in January of 2007



I will take lots of before and after pictures and you will be able to see the magic we perform this weekend.