Takin' the Blog for a Walk

wagging the blog

Posted by Brien Lee on March 29, 2009

1) sound of music, 7) I simply remember, Dad, let us pray, politics, St. William

Nothing too profound. Just a few thoughts from the last several days.

Father Leonard, parish priest at St. William, was guest speaker at Wednesday's Soup With Substance. The minestrone soup was great, but not as memorable as the stories and anecdotes from Father's youth and 44 years of active ministry. Several hundred people turned out for Father's last Soup With Substance, filling the gym. The talk took on added significance because we will be losing Father to retirement in June. He's done good things for the parish, helping it grow and flourish. We wish him well and will miss him. 

I am now a trained Chief Inspector. What this means is I've completed the Government Accountability Board's Baseline Training Course and can now be called on to be the person in charge at a polling station. I hope I won't be in charge anytime soon, because the three hour course wasn't nearly enough. Besides all the end-of-long-day-paperwork, my biggest fear is setting up the Edge touchscreen voting machine. It's complicated, and we didn't go over that at all. I look forward to the day when there will be statewide uniform training. State, county and municipal guidelines makes for too much paperwork and confusion.

I met U.S. Representative Paul Ryan at my work Friday, the same day he was quoted in the paper as saying he wouldn't have voted to severly tax the AIG bonuses had he known it was unconstitutional. He's a nice enough guy, I'm sure, but we didn't have time to talk other than to mention that my dad also was from Janesville. Rather surprised so many politicians have time to visit. Congressman Ryan is the fifth senator or representative to visit my workplace in the last month or so. State Senator Mary Lazich visited two weeks ago. Even though she doesn't represent Racine, it was nice to see her somewhere other than the NOW blogger meetings. I may not always agree with her politics, but I admire her sparing time from her busy schedule to visit us.  

Have you visited the new Menards on Bluemound? All this week there are special promotions, giveaways and celebrity visits. If you received a plastic-wrapped ad in the mail, there should be a UPC code good for probably $2.00 off a purchase. They don't say exactly how much it's worth, but everyone I saw got the same $2.00 off at the register. The store is like a mini mall where you can buy food, clothes, paint, mattresses, toilets and tubs under one roof. It took only 500 semis to fill the space - about 270 in four days alone! There are bargains to be had, and if nothing else just go there to look around... there's lots to see.

I went back to school today. I attended a St. Vincent de Paul breakfast meeting at my old grade school, St. John Vianney, in Brookfield this morning. Mass was held in a beautiful church that replaced the convent that was there when I attended 1st through 6th grades. Breakfast was in the gym that used to be the church where I prayed so hard as a kid. At the meeting, I met an old friend and his wife I hadn't seen in the 3 years since they've been married. I also introduced myself to an older woman with a familiar name. It was a last name I recognized from my SJV days. She said she was the mother of two of the kids I went to school with. She said she'd say "hi" for me.

St. William's hosted a fun event today. Possibly a new annual event, the talent show was something to look forward to and enjoy. There was plenty of food and two hours of entertainment. Thinking back on it, I can't believe how enjoyable it all was. Quite a wide range of talents. Dancing: tap, square and jazz. Singing: Sweet Adelines, a women's barbershop quartet. A brave gal who soloed beautifully on "Someone's knocking at your door." The St. William's Men's Glee Club, a group of choir members, mostly from this parish, who formed for just this one time. And the cutest thing, a mom and her two young kids who karoake'd their way through "Drift Away." Instrumentals: four piano soloists, an alto sax and a flute soloist. Comedy: a monologue titled "My new apartment," and "Three Singing Sisters," parishioners dressed in nun's habits. And one of the best acts of the afternoon: a high school aged musical group performing "I feel the earth move" by Carol King.