A night at the movies.......

Last night the boys slept over at the neighbors, so Mike and I thought it would make for a good "date night" at the movies.

First of all, the movie we saw is an independent film called "Schultze Gets the Blues". It's in German with English subtitles and if you have never read a movie before....it really isn't a big deal....you don't even realize your reading after the first 5 minutes. This movie is funny, charming, and bittersweet. This would be my movie "pick of the week"! You can read more about this movie at www.schultzegetstheblues.com Now onto our movie "experience"....

We arrived at the Downer Theater on a beautiful evening.....the movie theater itself is old with great archetectural details...we were looking forward to our movie. There were approximately 25 people in the movie theater (the theater sits 150), then.....3 old people walked in during the previews. They walked behind our row and hit both of our heads, discussed very loudly where they should sit...then (you guessed it) they decided that out of the 125 available seats, they would sit right smack next to Mike!

As they sat down, the woman sitting next to Mike complained that the popcorn was too salty, but her Mother sitting next to her said it was delicious. (this whole time Mike and I are trying not to laugh!) As the movie started, the Mother began to READ OUT LOUD the subtitles! I'm looking at Mike thinking....Hell No! Eventually, her daughter quieted her down, while she rummaged through her popcorn bag....very loudly!

The movie begins....and then out come the chocolate in the box! I swear that she's shaking this box like it's a pair of maracas'! Of course.....I can't stop giggling...and Mike just keeps rolling his eyes!

There is a part of this movie when a gunshot is fired....this woman sitting next to Mike, jumps out of her seat! I have never seen anyone get so startled! At this point, I'm shaking because I'm trying really hard not to lose it with my laughter! I can still see her face! Very funny! What makes this so funny is the moviegoer knows that there is going to be a gunshot....so you're pretty much aware that it's going to happen!

It gets better.......the woman then farts! Not a girly fart.....a manly fart! I couldn't contain myself anymore! Mike is sitting so close to me that he's pushing me into the other seat, because it smells! When the movie ended.....we went outside and laughed at our "date night"! We'll both remember this for a long time.......

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Today we went to Sheboygan to visit with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Joan and Uncle John for Easter. We had to get up at 5:45am, because Mitchell had to "serve" at church, then it was off to Sheboygan. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the Sea Bird and got a chance to visit! Willie visited with everyone, because he knows everyone! It was such a nice and relaxing day! Also, so Joan knows that I didn't forget.....she had a "Peggyism"! What's a "Peggyism"? It's when you flip your letters around to make a new word! For example...."bottle of wine" becomes "wottle of wine"! So here's Joans' "Peggyism"! She tried to say "swordfish" to the waitress, but instead said "shwordfish"! Too funny!

Let me introduce you to Pierre!

Isn't he cute? We are watching Pierre for a friend of mine, while she's on vacation with her family. Nick just loves him......but hates cleaning up his poop! He barks a little bit at night, but when Mike tells him to stop....he does! So far he's been a really good dog! I'll let you know more as the week goes on!

We Are The Champions!

Did you think I was talking about the UW Panthers and UW Badgers in the NCAA basketball sweet sixteen? Heck no! Our couples bowling team (consisting of Bryan, Jill, Mike and myself) have taken first place and the season isn't even over! No one can catch us on the league with points, because we've only lost 6 this whole season! I think we get sweatshirts, which Mike and I will end up giving the boys! Ahhhhhhhh! The sweet smell of victory!

I ended up sitting around on Sunday, because I pulled a muscle in my shoulder. Ouch! It was so painful, that it even hurt when I would breathe. I'm doing much better today, though. Mike spent some time at.......THE DUPLEX! Mike and Stosh want to get the thing rented by April 1st, so Mike placed an ad and ended up getting two rental applications.

Tomorrow we are picking up my friend Ann's dog while she goes on vacation. His name is Pierre and he's a Bichon. Nick is so excited to have a dog to watch. He's promised to clean up the poop, take him for walks, and feed him! I'll post some pics of the dog later this week.

Now about the NCAA.....Mike and Mitch are so happy that both teams have made it to the "Sweet Sixteen". That means that this week will be a movie week for me, because I lose all TV rights I would normally have to the tournament games! If I only would have had a girl! Oh well, I have the Seinfeld DVD, so I can watch that instead. By the way, Mike and I love to watch movies, and this weekend we watched the movie Ray. What a great movie! I usually like to watch movies that have a small budget and are usually independent, but I really enjoyed this movie. It's my movie pick of the week! Grab a big bowl of popcorn, a glass of wine, turn up the stereo and watch this movie. Also, make sure that you watch the DVD bonus'. I'm usually only a fan of the "blooper" reels, but it was interesting to find out about the history behind this movie.

I'll be back soon.......

Our Snowblowers!

Ahhhhhh! Springtime! The boys were so excited to have Thursday and Friday off from school, until it snowed 4 inches! That meant they had to get their butts outside to shovel! They still had the luck of the Irish from St. Patty's day, because our neighbor Tony came over with his snowblower and helped them out. Of course, the boys were so grateful because it was a very wet and heavy snow. As I write this.....Mike is back out there shoveling because we got another 3 inches last night! Spring is tomorrow, right?

What a mess!

After a relaxing weekend with Joan, John and Kyra......I've decided to embark on my next project......a rummage sale! With Joan's blessing (& help!), she's assured me that I can manage this. She also promised that we'd drink some brewski's during the rummage sale! What was I thinking? Mike and I have sooooo much stuff! Remember those sweaters with the shoulder pads from the 80's? Well..... I saved them in case they came back in fashion like poncho's! It's funny to look back on these clothes! After pricing almost all of my clothes....I then tackled the baby clothes! What a mess! My goal is to price everything that's down in the basement first, then begin pricing upstairs and eventually hauling everything into the garage. (I think that's what Joan told me to do?) I'm hoping to take some pics to show the progress I'm making!

Mitch and Nick have a short week at school due to conferences. We are hoping that the weather is nice so they can take their bikes out......if the weather is bad.....then they get to help me with "rummage sale" stuff! Ahhhhh! The joys of motherhood!

Spring is right around the corner.....NOT!

We had a great weekend! Here's a picture of Mitch, Auntie Joan, Uncle John and Nick. Our options were limited this weekend on "what to do", so we opted to go to the Sport Show! Mike and John looked at EVERYTHING! Mike knows everything there is to know about piers, just in case, for Greenlake. The picture was taken at Friday's Front Row at Miller Park. The roof was open, so you could see the tarp on the infield.....could spring be right around the corner? Heck no! It was 27 degrees this morning! Brrrrrrrr! It may get up to 40 this week, so that means the boys will think they can wear their spring jackets

Here's Mitch showing off his "rocker" look for some pics he needed for his autobiography for school! We probably took at least 5 until he decided that this one "rocks". Now if we could only get him to practice more! 

What a Crappy Weekend.......

Ah......the weekend......a time to relax and spend quality time with your family! However, we all know how quickly that can change! Mike and I were looking forward to an old fashioned Wisconsin fish fry with the boys! Is there anything better than having fish fry with a good old-fashioned on the side? Anyway, just as the food arrived, Nick complained of an upset stomach and you guessed it.......threw up on the way to the restroom! Needless to say.....we had to get everything "to go" and smelled that aromatic fish all the way home! Did you ever notice that it's not the same when you reheat your food at home? We thought we were out of the woods...... On Saturday, Nick still had a tummy ache, but by the evening he was eating some pizza and some popcorn. On Sunday, he was the acolyte for church and from all appearances looked pretty damn good.....until.......we went to the Milwaukee Auto Show. It was there that he complained of his stomach......we raced home.......and again he got sick! Poor guy! He must have a horrible little bug in his stomach! No temperature......No headache.....just an upset stomach!

Today he woke up and said he was hungry.....so I gave him some toast and water. He really wanted to go to school to see if he could make it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

This week is a slooooooooooow week for me. I'm not working at BBW at all, so I've decided to work on some "at home" projects. Mitch of course has a week filled with activities.....confirmation class, guitar lessons, basketball etc; Nick just needs to work on getting himself better this week. Mike is busy with work and his latest project.......THE DUPLEX!

The boys are very excited that Auntie Joan is coming for a visit this weekend. That usually means that they get to stay up late, play games and eat junk food! Therefore, it goes without saying that they really look forward to her visits!

Homework! Homework! Homework!

I don't know about anyone else....but I really don't remember having as much homework as Nick! He seems to have homework every night for at least 2 hours! He also gets these HUGE projects almost every weekend! A lot of "experts" say that kids today don't get outside enough to play.....but Nick never has any time! By the time he gets done with his homework, eats dinner, takes a bath and practices piano.....his day is done! Poor little guy! I know that it's pretty cold here so that doesn't help with the situation, but he can't even go sledding! At least there's only 14 more weeks of school.......then their vacation begins........and mine ends!

Welcome!

I've finally stepped into the future and decided that it's time our "family" had a blog. This is where you'll find the day to day happenings in our "Brachmann" world. You'll be the first to know our thoughts, likes, dislikes and probably a bunch of stuff you could care less about! (Mike wants nothing to do with this!) I think he's afraid of what I may say about him! He better be nice to me.........

So let's get started......With all the cold and snowy weather we've been having, I've decided to start "spring cleaning"! (Peg is shaking her head already!) Isn't it funny that when you start deep cleaning you notice all the things wrong with your house? My spring cleaning frenzy has made me realize that I need new carpet in the living room and hallway, a new front door, new trim and the living room needs to be painted! Phew! That's going to be a lot of work for Mike and the boys!