Holiday e-news Year in Review

2005 was a very eventful year highlighted by our relocation from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin to Mankato, MN. Laura "Side Track" has taken an executive marketing position with the Wedding Division of The Occasions Group (a privately held subsidiary of the Taylor Corporation – no relation). Alex "Buzz Daddy" has returned to corporate America to help IRG, a Taylor owned start-up organization with business development strategies and execution. As he puts it, the pay is better than he paid himself and the hours are much more predictable.

Sadly we left a wonderful community, terrific schools and dear friends and neighbors. The only hiccup was when we lost our fish in a car accident that totaled our Van in Rochester, MN during the move. So now we have a new van and new fish. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful move.

One major positive is our proximity to the Becks, (Laura’s sister’s family). It’s great to get the cousins together and watch the kids play.

Ellie "The Belly Bean" has migrated to Garfield Middle School, Addy "Boots" and Maggie "The Chalupa" (4th and 3rd grade respectively) to Jefferson Elementary and Ike "BD" spends most of his days at Techni-Kids, Day Care sponsored by one of the local colleges. And when they are at home they are carefully watched by Ashley Hoehn, who rules with an IRON FIST. She’s the BEST!

Our summer vacation took us to Beaver Creek, CO to stay with family friends (the Dorfman’s), then up to Jackson, Wyoming to stay visit the Chidsey’s (Taylor family friends and Alex’s Godfather). We managed to squeeze in Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore on our way back to Minnesota. All in all it was an amazing trip, and the kids were terrific.

We also managed to get up to the cabin to visit Laura’s folks (Pat and Harlin) which is always a fun time of boating, swimming, eating and goofing off. Unfortunately this fall, Pat was diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s. So we are hopeful and prayerful things work out and our spirits remain high. We are all learning as much as we can so that we can help and make all of our transitions/adjustments as smooth as possible.

However, one thing is constant in our lives. and that’s chaos. Ellie plays softball, guitar, piano, swims, acts and dances Jazz. Addy plays volleyball, violin, swims and does gymnastics and theater. Maggie plays softball, guitar, swims, theater and gymnastics. Oh and Ike… he simply plays. As you can imagine, there is lots of running around and activity all the time.

Tootsie still chews stuff like a puppy and Alex swears she is getting better, meanwhile Laura simply swears. Koko, is our grand old dame and lumbers around the house looking for comfortable places to nap. Truman (the cat), generally minds his own business and doesn’t seem traumatized by our chaotic lives.

Laura swims regularly to stay in shape, and Alex continues to run long and far. This fall, he managed to run 3 marathons in 5 weeks: starting with Crazy Pete and his sister in the Twin Cities Marathon, then with Crazy Pete again in the Mason City Marathon and concluding in the New York City Marathon. Alex took Ellie with him to New York and stayed with the Dorfman’s (again!) both in Manhattan and the Hamptons. What a great family. Alex and Ellie had a marvelous time.

Laura graciously gave Alex hall passes to attend two Hawkeye football games: one with his old pal Mark Koepke and the other with Brian (his brother in-law). During both trips Alex stayed with his Godmother, JoAnn. She is such a patient person with him and his antics. Anyway, Go Hawks in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2nd.

In sad news Alex’s Aunt Sally passed away just before Thanksgiving. Alex and his sister Emily went to California for the funeral. Along with cousins Erica, Kim, Tim and Steve it was a nice funeral with and a glorious send-off befitting of Sally and her sense of family and fun. It should also be mentioned that Alex’s cousin “Taylor” Vernon also passed. He will be remembered as a very kind and gentle man.

On a lighter note, we’d like to thank our many guests and friends who have visited or will soon visit: This year the Pellecia’s from Menomonee Falls stopped by and toured the area, it was a lot of fun to see them.

Of course many family members have stopped by to see the new digs. And for the holidays, JoAnn (Alex’s Godmother) and Uncle Brinz (Laura’s brother) will visit. Shortly after their visit, our neighbors from Menomonee Falls, (Tami, Adam and Lindsay Menting) will come up on their way to the Maul of America. They will return later in the Spring for a Badger hockey match against the local Minnesota State Mavericks.

And the crazy year will end and New Year will start appropriately. Crazy Pete and his dork kids will be here for December 31, NIDDE (New Insane Dumbass Diver’s Eve). The following morning, to start off the New Year, Crazy and Alex will submerse themselves (sans wet suits) in Lake Minnetonka. Should be a bracingly dumb way to launch more adventures to come in 2006 -what a pair of idiots, it's no wonder they haven't institutionalized.

Anyway, that should do it for now. Happy Holidays and warm regards for a terrific New Year with many friends, family, adventures and good times.

Trail Running in Decorah

This is every bit as cold as it looks. According to Crazy Pete there were fewer than zero degrees when he undertook this trail in Decorah over the December 17-18th weekend.

Always good to get reports from our far flung correspondents.

Happy Turd Birthday Ike -

From cRazY PeTE

Happy Birthday Ike,
Three is the age,
When you're learning,
So many new words.

Hat's off to you,
Your mom,
And your dad,
Who's definitely King of the Turds!

"Under Construction?"

Trimming our Christmas Tree is serious business, for serious people, with serious equipment... seriously.

"Personal Narrative"
By, Addy Taylor
November 21, 2005

I remember when I was six years old and I first saw my baby brother, Isaac. It was December 13, 2002. He was born at Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

My mom and dad decided that my sisters and I would go to my neighbor's house while they went to the hospital. We had just turned on a movie, and hadn't even reached half-way when the phone rang. It was my dad, he told us that Isaac had been born.

A day later, mom was told by a nurse that Isaac would have to stay at the hospital because of an infection that my mom had during her pregnancy. The infection was passed on to my brother.

At first it felt weird having a brother. During school it was hard to concentrate. I would be surprised when I'd walk in the door and see him in the living room with my mom.

Even though he was sick when he was born, or how much he would freak me out when I opened the door, I still have to say that the first time I saw him was the best time of my life.

Happy 3rd birthday, Ike. Love Addy.

TRAVELS WITH "SIDE TRACK"

At last we’ve landed. It’s 12:30 AM, I’m tired but relieved to know the hotel is only 20 minutes from the Ft. Lauderdale airport. I’ll still be able to get a few good hours of sleep and in the morning I’ll meet up with two travel partners from work at the hotel.

As I exit the plane I pull out a printed copy of the email I have with my itinerary and scan the page to ‘hotel’ to figure out where I’m headed. To my surprise, when I read the ‘hotel’ part it says ‘I’m going to make reservations at either the Marriot Weston or the Baymont Sunrise’. That’s all there is. No confirmation of which one was reserved or what the phone number is for either. Great.

I’m thinking I wish I had a cell phone right now so I could at least call Alex in the middle of the night and file my complaint. I certainly can’t call the office at this hour to get information on where my reservations are. Instead I head to the luggage area where they have a row of pay phones with a nice big telephone book hanging from every sixth phone.

I proceed to a phone book and look up the first hotel, thinking I’ll call and see if they have a reservation in my name. I scan the pages and soon realize someone has torn out the one page I need! How rude! Why would someone ever do something like this! Fine, I think to myself, I’ll just look up the other hotel then. I find that hotel and place my call. As I ask for a confirmation of a reservation for Laura Taylor I get the response ‘we have no reservation under that name’.

So I hang up the phone thinking I could just risk it and go to the other hotel. It makes sense that if one hotel doesn’t have a reservation in my name, then the office must have made the reservation at the other hotel. But something didn’t feel right. I look 6 phones down and see another large telephone book hanging down and decide it’s worth getting the other hotel’s phone number to call and confirm my reservation before I go and make a trip there at 1 AM.

The airport is empty and I’m tired. So I leave my bag, computer, winter coat (I had left Minnesota in the middle of a snow storm), everything at the first phone and walk down to the other phone to look up the other hotel. I am pleased to find that this phone book does have the page I need. Then I realize I didn’t bring a pen and paper, or change or anything with me from the first phone. So I can’t call from the phone I’m at because I don’t have my change, and I can’t write the phone number down because I didn’t walk over with pen and paper but if I walk back to the first phone to get one of these things the big heavy phone book will fall back down into it’s hanging position and I’ll loose my spot. I have no confidence that I can remember a phone number at this hour to think I could walk over to the other phone with the number memorized.

Well, I’m ashamed of what one will do in tired, frustrating times…without even thinking I ripped the page out of the phone book. Oh my gosh, I now understand how someone could have done such a thing! And I’m shocked at myself for stooping so low just to avoid having to look the number up again!

What’s done is done. I walk back to the first phone with my phone book page and call the other hotel (I tell myself I’ll leave the ripped page in the phone book so I won’t be quite as bad as the other person). When I get through I’m told ‘I’m sorry our computer system is down right now and I have no way of knowing if we have a reservation for you or not’. So much for technology!

I explain my plight and the hotel assistant offers to connect me with the ‘national line’ and there they will be able to look it up on their system. So I get connected to the ‘national line’ and am asked where I am (Ft. Lauderdale of course) and I hear a pause as she looks up the information. During this pause I realize it’s the Marriot Weston in Weston, FL (just outside Ft. Lauderdale) so I interrupt the pause and explain this. To my surprise I hear a snotty ‘Well why didn’t you say so! You know I can’t tell where you are…I have to know where you are if you think I’m going to help you!’. I felt like yelling ‘I DID TELL YOU WHERE I AM, THAT’S THE PROBLEM. I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU WHERE I’M GOING!’. But instead I quietly apologized and waited for my information.

I hear her voice a moment later informing me they have no reservations in my name. In the back of my mind I’m thinking ‘yeah, you’re just saying that because I ticked you off!’.

I hang up the phone once again feeling tapped. I decide to call back the first hotel that didn’t have a reservation and ask if they have any rooms, because if they do I’ll just take one and figure out how I’ll hook up with my travel partners in the morning.

I place yet another call which uses up the last of my change. I ask if they have any room available to which I hear ‘sorry, we’re booked’. Thinking there’s no way I’m calling back the place who’s computer’s are down with the nasty national rep, and thinking I’m alone in the airport, I rather loudly yell ‘S*&%’! Boy did it feel good to vent.

But then, to my surprise, a head pops up behind a row of benches and gives me the nastiest look I’ve ever received. Obviously he was sleeping back there but as Junie B. Jones says ‘Yeah, but I didn’t even know that guy was back there’.

I decide I’m better off moving from this guys ‘area’. As I do so I hear on the overhead announcements ‘Ft Lauderdale now offers free wireless internet access from all our waiting areas’. That’s it! I think to myself. I’ll quickly get online and check my email and see if there were any other emails related to my travel plans that might indicate the hotel where reservations were made!

I get online and pour through the sea of email. I finally find an email that says the hotel was set for Hilton Sunrise. What a relief!

I head for the shuttles to find a shuttle to the Hilton Sunrise. Unfortunately I find that the shuttle only goes to the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale, not the Hilton Sunrise (just outside Ft. Lauderdale). So I’m going to have to take a cab. I quickly check my cash situation and realize I only have $20. Hummm? I’m afraid that might not cover what I’ve been told is a 20 minute drive.

As I look around for a cash machine all I see is rows of shop fronts with bars across them (of course, it’s now pushing 1:30 AM). I see a lonely airport personnel across the way and go up and ask where I can find a cash machine. Of course it’s on the other side of the airport.

So I rearrange my bag, my computer, my purse and my heavy winter coat as I set out for my treck across the Ft. Lauderdale airport. I get my cash and treck back to the cab line. What a relief it was to dump my things and my tired body into the back seat of the cab!

The cabbie heads out for our destination. As with many airports, when you are leaving the airport area the road splits giving you your options to head one way or the other. As we approach just such a split, the cabbie starts swerving back and forth from one side to the other. As we reach the split he slams on the breaks and stops in the median between the two roads! He looks back and in broken English says ‘Did you say Hilton Sunrise?’. ‘Yeeeesssss’, I reply. Then in a shocked voice with English I can barely understand he says... ‘I don’t know where it is!’.

It is now 2 AM and I’m sitting in a cab with a large foreign man who can hardly speak English and doesn’t know where we’re going.

Ahhh, the joys of traveling. And THIS chapter doesn't include the entire rent-a-car saga/fiasco upon my return. That particular snafu ended four days later with my husband and a $230 cab fare. But that's another story for another time.

Until then, suffice it to say, there is nothing like a little adventure to add spice to a person's life!

Thanksgiving 2005

On Wednesday, just a few hours before we departed on our long family drive from Mankato, MN to Keshena, WI we found out that Sally Divine passed away. She was Alex's Aunt (Mother's sister) with whom Alex and Laura visited as often as possible during trips to San Francisco. She was a kind and caring lady who thoughtfully sent cards and stayed in touch. She loved animals and kept a beautiful garden. Both reflected all the best parts of her soul.

The details of her passing have not been fully determined, but we know it was sudden and therefore she didn't suffer. To that end we are sad, but thankful to have known her for all the feisty and sweet quaitlies she inherited from her parents (Alex's grandparents) and shared with us. Sally will be missed.

We arrived in Keshena, Wisconsin to a typical Thanksgiving celebration with Turkey, dressing and all the fixin's. Uncle Pfft (Brian - Laura's brother) was there and we had a very nice time. Food, drink and entertainment were, as always, most excellent for one an all.

The crew arrived home (Monkey Doo) late on Saturday so we could do our chores all day Sunday and be caught up by Monday. It promises to be a busy holiday season ahead. We look forward to it... in fact... bring it on!

"Locks of Love"
-- By Ellie Taylor

It was 5:30 on Wednesday evening and my dad had just picked me up from piano practice, as usual. On the way home, we stopped by his client’s hair salon so he could speak with the owner. While visiting with the staff, they commented on my beautiful long hair to which my dad mentioned my interest in Locks of Love.

We found out that they did Locks of Love, and so he began talking to me about it. I thought and thought. It was a tough decision. I loved my long hair, but then some people needed it more than me. The stylist told me to look at a book with some short hair styles. I knew I had to get 10 or more inches cut off, so I had an idea about how short it would look. Finally, I said, “yes, let’s do it.”

They measured 10 inches and put a pony tail at the 10 inch mark. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then I heard the “snap” of the scissors and felt almost no weight on my head. When I opened my eyes and saw the hair I had left. The stylist washed my hair and cut it to the style I wanted.

There was a lady right next to me getting her hair styled the whole time while I got my hair cut. She said I had a lot of guts.

When we got back in the car, my dad looked a little nervious. We didn’t tell mom I was going to do this. We were worried about what she’d say. When I got home, it took a moment for her to realize what I had done. When she did, I quickly told her I gave my hair away to Locks of Love. She said she was very proud of me.

Locks of Love is a program for girls that have cancer. They have people (like me) donate their hair so they can make it into wigs for cancer patients who have lost their hair because of their chemotherapy treatment.

I like to think that my long pretty hair is now on someone who needs it more than me. It makes me feel important to help someone in need.

Who's that CRAZY nut?

Twas the night before the Twin Cities Marathon, and all through the dome, these six idiots could be seen, far, far from home. Despite the Twins loss, it appears these morons had fun.

From left: Thomas "I am soooo annoyed by my Dad and these kids, I can't wait to go home" Ylvisaker; Maggie "Is this really how my cousin's act in public?" Taylor; Ursula "This is sooo stupid, I actually remembered to laugh" Beck; Ellie "I think I should have said 'excuse me' " Taylor; Elika "I think I'm falling in love with the guy in the red shirt and glasses" Beck.

The guy behind all this chaos appears to be a recently escaped lunatic from Decorah. There is no help for a guy of his ilk.

As for the marathon, CRAZY Pete and Alex helped pace Sarah (Pete's Sister from Apple Valley, MN) and Emily (a H.S. Senior from Lawrence, KS) to the finish line in time to collect a medal, t-shirt and the thrill of becoming a succesful marathon runner for the first time. Sarah and Emily were the hero's of the weekend. And as for the rest of this crowd... the Humphry dome may never be the same.

Sarah and Noah On Parade

Cousins, Sarah and Noah Kutner show some of their holiday spirit in this photo submitted by Emily (Alex's sister). Sarah has sprouted up, and if I'm not mistaken, Noah does not look too pleased about this entire situation. All we can say is... get used to it and be glad you are older that she is.

Sometimes, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Big Time in the Big Apple

Ellie and Alex in Times Square two days before Alex's participation in the ING New York City Marathon. This photo was taken after a subway ride down to Greenwich Village for lunch, a ride back to Grand Central Station and a brief visit to Madame Trusseau's Wax Museum where Whoopie Goldberg had her picture taken with Ellie.

After this we visited the Dorfman's on the upper East Side, then drove out to their place in the Hamptons for a day of activities on Saturday. It was quite spectatacular. And Ellie and Alex spend time on the beach playing frisbee and in the surf.

Alex returned to run the Marathon on Sunday. The event had more than 37,000 runners and covered all five boroughs. Alex accomplished his negative-split goal and broke 4:00 hours with a respectible 3 hour and 50 minute chip time, finishing comfortably in the top 1/5 of all runners.

Shortly after that, Ellie and Alex were sitting on a plan to arrive home at 2:00 a.m. Monday morning. Despite being a little tired, they reported for school and work (respectively) by 9:00 a.m. later that morning. Fun was had by one and all.

The Day After Halloween

A little tired from a night of parading through the neighborhood as Elmo, a Vampire, a Barbie (gone bad) and a Pirate.

Kids will be kids. Fun was had by one and all.

"Don't worry. Be happy!"
Tootsie went to the Dr. today. She was to get spayed and have her tail looked at. The spay part was easy. The tail however, was a different matter.

You see, the tip of her tail was raw, dried, chapped, bleeding and missing hair. It appeared that there may have been one of those bizarre skin mites or some such deal. The vet said she would look into it.

Well shortly after 10:00 a.m. I received a call from the Vet informing me that Tootsie was sedated and about to be "fixed". Specifically she called to tell me that Tootsie did not have a skin mite as we suspected. Instead she had a case of "Happy Tail". Yep, that's right, "Happy Tail".

Simply put, Happy Tail is the result of wagging a tail with such enthusiasm and gusto, so many times, so fast into any non-moble object such as walls, shelfs, people, cars, trees, doors and walls (again). The banging of this "happy tail" against these objects bruises the tail and splits it open. Tootsie then licks it, and it dries out, chaps and hair falls out. The entire process repeats itself and basically leaves the tip of the tail bald.

So what do we do?

The vet says we bandage it, which may not work becuase the tip of the tail is conical and the bandage will fall off (if the dog doesn't chew it off). Or, we could have her tail cropped a few inches in which case she'll take a little while to heal unless she rubs her butt against the walls.

For clarification I asked, "if she rubs her butt against the wall and her butt get's chaffed, would that be "Happy Butt"? The vet laughed and said "I suppose so".

"And what do we do then?" I asked. "Crop her butt?". Still more laughter from the vet.

Tootsie now has a six inch tail. The fate of her butt is TBD.

Welcome to the Taylor Family Tabloid Blog. We will occassionally post news, information, comments, editorials and other fun stuff to help keep people up-to-date on our goings on.