Joelle is 13. There is nothing I can say that isn't cliched, i.e. "Where did the time go?" or "She was just a baby yesterday!" But, as parents, the individual we raise and send out into the world is hardly a cliche, right?
Joelle is sort of a combination of Eleanor Roosevelt, Babe Didrikson, and Kristin Wiig, and yet neither of these women, ya know? She is smart, athletic and so funny. I am a lucky mom.
Joelle and I celebrated her day with a start at Bradbury's, a crepe shop downtown. We highly recommend the Nutella and strawberry choice. Then we just hung out all day, lovely.
The shy Golden Retriever with her is Xena.
Monday, 9/17/12
How cool is Bucky Badger? I mean it. How do you not hug him, or just laugh at his absurdity? There is something so "Harpo Marx" about Bucky. Except Bucky is way coooooler. My daughters (Joelle and Jacki) went to a women's hockey game last year, and the girls went crazy over Bucky. Bucky even high-fived me; it was a thing of beauty. There is a great WHA TV documentary called "Being Bucky." You will smile. Go Badgers!!!!!
August 2012 by Juli Hinds,posted Jan 16 2013 4:07PM
Monday, 8/27/12
Here we go again, the change of seasons. In an effort to let go of summer...here are a few of my favorite fall things: the smells of hot cider, the sounds of raking leaves, badger football Saturdays (even if you don't go to the game), Halloween candy, baking pumpkin bread, planting mums, and long walks with comfy sweaters.
Thursday, 8/23/12
So…I was looking at pictures of my daughter, Jacqueline, on my computer today. She
and her sister, along with loads of neighbor kids, have taken 800 of themselves.
They pose, make faces and just generally mug. There is a freedom, sort of an egocentric yet joyful nod to recognizing yourself, again and again. In fact, there are so many of these Andy Warhol type pics on my Mac, some will have to go, I simply have no more room!
Oddly enough this ‘photo’ of my daughter Jacqueline reminds me of my own youthful pleasure in getting photos taken. Except when I was a kid, it was not this easy. This picture also makes me think about heading to Rennebohm's at Hilldale. Yes there was a Rennies there. One of my strongest memories as a kid was heading down to their photo booth. I would usually go with my brother Jon Jon or my friend Kate Kopishcke. It cost 25 cents. You would get behind the metal-like curtain and then wait. The lights would start going off. You nervously tried to pose in as many different and yet flattering poses you could muster. Then you had to wait. It took forever for the machine to develop that strip of photos. But, then you would see a corner of the strip emerge. There were usually four photos, tinted brown and still wet, so you would have to shake the strip. I can’t be the only one who remembers this!
I am going to dig around and see if I can find some. I’d love to see if you do too, so send away.
Wednesday, 8/15/12
Hi again. I am not planning on writing much beyond the random stuff that pops into my head, so if you are hoping for a blog which is always witty and wildly personal, this is not it. But if you are open to checking in to my randomness, come on in.
With school almost here, I was thinking about required reading lists. Can you remember a favorite? One that really gotcha? It was rather annoying to be told to do anything in your early teens but once in a while the adults were right. Maybe you connected with: I- Robot, Grapes of Wrath, the Jungle or Huckleberry Finn. These are all amazing books. But, for me, I would pick again and again- To Kill a Mocking Bird. It is beautifully written and engages the reader on so many different levels. I’d love to know about your favorite school read.
With the warmer weather, I thought you might enjoy this description of Scout’s town. Writing doesn’t getting any better than this.
“Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day: bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon. After their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.” Harper Lee.
Friday, 8/3/12
These Olympics have got me thinking...
It was a time of cut-off blue jeans and Let's Boogie t-shirts. I still had braces and my friend Kelle Jackson was my constant companion. Mark Spitz was the big shot at the Olympics, winning seven gold medals in wwimming, but it was Olga Korbat who stirred our imagination. Olga was really something. She wore these cute little pigtails and just seemed so pixie. Yet she was strong and just...amazing! I remember the summer because Kelle taught me how to do a back walk-over. I could do the back bend part, but not the walk-over. I just sort of sat there in my back bend kicking up in the air like an upside down mule. Each night, when I watched Olga, I became re-inspired. Kelle could do a back walk over and then some. She even had a poster of Olga on her wall and took gymnastics at Turner's gymnasium downtown. It seemed all of my girlfriends were into this gymnastics thing. I preferred basketball and softball, but somehow still wanted to cross the back walk-over hurdle. I can't believe how patient Kelle was. I was not flexible and really rather clueless, but she prevailed. Finally, she and I got the idea to use a hill, gravity might help. It worked. We were so excited. Kelle and I jumped up and down, and then fell to the ground laughing. It really did take several nights! Now, I have never done a back walk-over since, but the memory of that summer is golden!
