The Chad Letter, Continued

I LOVE this letter. Much more on this later. For now, my brain is too near to exploding for me to allow a stream-of-consciousness post on its perfection to this blog. It would certainly overload Blogger's servers.

I admit I can't wait to read Lisa's reaction, though.

The Chad Letter Unearthed

This letter had no business sitting in the box I found it in this afternoon -- it was a bunch of junk from the year after I graduated from college, when I was a) living back at home with my parents, b) working as the Permanent Building Substitute at a Middle School in Menominee Falls, and c) looking for a real job. I flipped when I found it. It is the one and only letter I ever received from Chad after SW. Actual letter to follow....

GUESS!

Yes, it is in fact a GUESS jeans jacket! Do you know how cool I thought (OK, I admit it, and still do think!) it was? Almost as cool as I thought I was wearing it! I'll get those names up as soon as I get more than 30 seconds on the computer.

I took that picture!!!

Look at you, Miss Thing-- I bet that's a Guess? jean jacket you're rocking!!!

Before Andy finds one more hideous than this, here is my 80's hair! (and braces - I rock!) 

The Search Is Over

Welcome, welcome, we missed you so much!!! YAY!!!! Aimee Kristine Bishop Nelson is IN DA HOUSE!!! I am so excited! Thanks so much for signing on, Aimee! I can't wait to see the list. I know I have mine somewhere but can't find it in the basement amidst all the unopened boxes of wedding china (who said registering for that was a good idea? Mother?!?!)... anyway.

I was thinking about trying to locate old letters from the gang-- I saved all of them (big surprise) and I know I have some from Laura Belanger, Dee Gaab, Darren Johnson, Mara Pedersen, Carolyn, and of course Chad Carlson (Andy have you tried to hunt him down from that photo you dug up? Aimee, I am convinced Andy's found him. You saw the pictures-- what do you think?) and maybe post some of the funnier bits, but again it'll take some searching (I believe they are at my parents' house). Anything you could contribute to tide me over would be so awesome!!!

I think Aimee and Andy need to post photos of their respective progeny-- the SW class of 2015, maybe? Carolyn can add to the roster when she has her baby too... this is so much fun!!!

Raise Your Hands to Heaven (and Pray)

...I never understood how you could do both. Aren't your hands supposed to be folded?

But never mind that now. YAY, am I excited!!! First, the stellar news that the Strans could quite possibly be returning to America's Dairyland, and now the SW88 debut of the lovely and talented Aimee! My week could barely improve. Welcome, Aimee!!!

Ooh, I cannot wait to post that list. I only wish I could be in the same room with Lisa when she sees it. Actually, maybe we shouldn't wait. Aim, instead of (or in addition to) emailing, you could just post everyone's name right here in the blog. I don't think posting the addresses is a great idea, but maybe their city of origins would be okay. Whaddaya' think?

Now, as soon as I find a minute or two at home, I will need to post a picture of Aimee from the late '80s. I have one in mind after that hair comment. =)

Here I Am (the one that you love.......)

Hello! Hello! Hello! Yes, we finally have our new computer & I'm finally (after months!) joining in on the fun! You guys rock!! I love reading about this & seeing pictures of the wonderful people from our past. I just found my list of addresses of everyone from SW88 and will email it to you ASAP Andy so that you have them all. With the addresses, I did find pictures too - what was up with '80's hair, huh? Boy do I miss it! Anyways, I'll try to check back in often - I miss you guys!!

McAuliffe!!!

That was the sound of my brain deflating... aaaahhhh. Thanks so much Aimee!!!

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day with your families. I have been in San Diego for the last week visiting my parents, who are renting a condo, and my grandparents (who now live out there). We had a great time-- my dad has mellowed so much since becoming retired, and he and my mom crack us all up! He's like a kid again, and so silly.

Here's the kicker, though: while Laura and I were visiting, my father asked us at lunch one day where we thought he and my mom should move to, now that he's retired-- and without hesitation, we both said, "Milwaukee!!!" We have been saying this ever since we MOVED, of course, in 1988, but for some reason this finally sank in, and my dad actually started getting excited about the prospect of selling the house in Granger and splitting their time between San Diego in the winters and Milwaukee the rest of the year. I thought you would appreciate this, Andy. It only took seventeen years, but I think we're finally wearing them down!!!

We lured them with the usual: getting to go to Summerfest all week if we wanted, eating at Mader's, visiting Marquette, their alma mater, going to Brewers games, finding a place on a lake (my dad is obsessed with lake frontage for some reason), getting in touch with their old friends from Franklin. We brought up the fact that both of my sisters are thinking of moving there, and of course I capped it with the "When we have kids we'll be closer to visit, and the drive is so much easier"... yeah, we brought out the big guns. Probably the funniest thing was my dad talking about what neighborhoods they might like to live in, and he said "Wauwatosa", referring to the classy crib that the Stoffelses lived in!!! The irony is so thick you could choke on it...

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed, people. The Strans may be returning to their roots. Ya-Ya Milwaukee!!!

Carolyn: Summer '04 in Stockholm 

Carolyn: "my school photo with holy moly must be the eighties big hair" 

Carolyn (left) with Mara Pedersen 

That's Brett Bowers on the left. 

Carolyn's cabin 

Time for Some Updates!

Hello-Hi-Howdy, SW88 Fans!!!

In the past few weeks, we've been practically inundated with new information about our fellow SW campers by some fellow SW campers! Here's the latest:

• Importantly, Aimee (who allegedly will be joining this blog as a postress herself sometime soon) reports that Jeremy's last name was McAuliffe. Google has uncharacteristically been less-than-helpful in locating any additional details, so, as always, if you have information on Jeremy or any other SW88er, please send them on to us!
• Aimee also reports that both Jeremy and Laura Belanger hailed from Edgar, Wisconsin. (Here's Pigeon Lake, BTW.) Google has a few hits on that name, one listing a Laura Belanger as the head of the Personnel Department for Portage County, Wisconsin, and an address in Bayfield... which is of course not in Portage County!
  
• Carolyn passed on some of her pictures from Pigeon Lake! Look for those to be posted here (by me), along with her notes as to what they depict. She also said she'd post comments to clarify any pix that she didn't directly identify.