Race For the Cure

RACE FOR THE CURE

Today we participated in the Race for the Cure, which raises money for breast cancer research. This is a picture of me and my sister, a breast cancer SURVIVOR. She has been cancer free for over 13 years!

Hurray!

Anyone who knows me, knows how I feel about cancer. We have had more than our share of cancer in our family. It is one of the main reasons that I am going to school to become a nurse. I hope to someday work with children that have cancer and help them fight the horrible "cancer monster".

Today was yet another gorgeous Saturday. After the race, we went to the Dane County Farmers Market again. Our kids were able to see their friend perform at the Chinese Culture Day. Then, we went to Festa Italia, in Fitchburg. They've got really great Italian sausage. It was a busy day--and very exhausting. We topped the day off with dinner at Chile's. I think I am going to go to bed really early tonight.

Here are some more pictures of the Race, so you can get a feel for the atmosphere.

God's blessings to all cancer fighters and survivors!

Ciao

Slow News Day

Slow News Day

I'm anxiously awaiting a visit from my sister. So I don't have much time to write. Thought I would share this picture with you. These are flowers I think, that possibly, maybe JD might have seen. This was taken one week after JD was supposedly at the Wilderness. They were right in front of the resort entrance. The only reason I took them is that one of my kids said, "Mom will you take a picture of those flowers, because they are so pretty."

Yes, it is a slow news day. I'm really reaching.

Tomorrow we are doing the Race for the Cure. My sister is a breast cancer survivor and we have made the race an annual tradition. It's really a cool event--more than just a race/walk. Even if your not participating, it might be worthwhile to just check it out.

My sister is here!
Ciao for now!

The Life of a Cat

The Life of a Cat

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be a cat? Eat, sleep, get pet, sleep. What a life! I'm lucky if I can sleep past 6:30. If it's not the kids, it's the cat begging for food. If, by some miracle, the kids and cat are being dealt with, I still can't sleep. Would you believe that we slept better in a hotel bed than in our own? That's how bad our mattress is. Or, that's how good the mattress was at the Wilderness. Maybe a little bit of both.

The pictures I posted today, are of my "kitteh", Mia. What a life! She even surfs the net. Maybe she is the REAL blogger. But seriously, she thinks the computer is more comfortable than our mattress. This is the first cat I have had that didn't sleep with us--must be the mattress.

Our kitty, Mia, wants to eat 24/7. She thinks that the second we stir in bed, it must be morning and time to eat. If we don't get up right away, she goes around our room making noise. She paws at the wall, chews on a box, pushes the door open, and digs the underside of the bed. She also thinks that any time we walk in the front door, it must be dinner time. Even if it's 2:00 in the afternoon, or 8:00 at night. So I guess you could say that our cat has live-in help. She expects to be waited on hand and foot (kind of like my kids). Yes, us parents are the live-in help.

Despite all of this, I love our Mia-Mia. Also known as The Mia Pet. (ch ch ch chia--ma ma ma mia). Did I just put a commercial in your head? She is fuzzy, and lovable, and so darn cute! Nothings better than a warm kitty on your lap on a cold day. A kitty listens without judging. A kitty loves you unconditionally. A kitty doesn't have to be let out. And kitties can be quite amusing. Have you ever seen one sleeping and then suddenly fall off the bed? Have you ever seen a kitty run into a window trying to get a bird? It all makes it worth it!

When Tuesday Seems Like Monday

When Tuesday Seems Like Monday, But FEELS Like Friday

Aren't three day weekends great? Our family went to Farmer's Market, The World's Largest Brat Fest, visiting family, and seeing a Memorial Day Parade. Not only that, we actually relaxed, too. Then, Tuesday came. . .

It's so much harder to wake up after a three day weekend, isn't it? Especially when your about to work a ten hour day.

Enough of that. It is time for Part III of "Movie Star Filming Public Enemies".

Day 4 of filming was back in Columbus. Originally my husband was asked to work Monday through Wednesday. On Wedneday he was asked back to be an extra on Thursday. They decided to reshoot the scene they filmed on Monday. So that meant he sat in the back of the police car for another whole day. He said that it must have been the original seat of the car. He said it felt like the springs were poking through the seat.

If any of you were at the filming, maybe you saw him. He rode in the passenger side of the back seat (not that I expect you to remember). The pictures I'm posting are generously shared with me by a few friends from the PE Columbus Blog. (Thanks again!)

One of the things he mentioned about being an extra, is that when they came out of "holding" (the area where they had to wait), the crowd got really excited. He figures they were hoping they would see someone famous. He even was asked for autographs (cute).

On the first day of filming, the head stunt coordinator was driving the police car. This made for interesting conversation, during all of the hours in the car. Plus, he was able to hear everything being said over the walkie-talkies.

For the most part, he was treated pretty well. The food was really good. The water bottles were labeled "Star Struck, Water of the Stars". He was also able to go and get bakery, coffee, water, gum, whenever he wanted to.

I have been so excited (and jealous) of all the fun he was having. However, he said that it was mostly a lot of waiting around (he expected that).

On Friday, of the first week of filming he went back to work. He said, "I'm going through withdrawl." The "movie bug" hit him, but as far as we knew, he was done. Little did he know that it would get even more interesting. . .

To be Continued. . .

What a gorgeous day!

What a gorgeous day!

If you have never been to the Dane County Farmer's Market (Madison) you NEED TO GO! It's so beautiful and such a neat experience. Even if we aren't going to buy anything, we go sometimes just to experience it.

This was my first attendance of the year and the weather was unbelievable. Wouldn't you love to have this kind of weather all the time?

It was quite crowded there today. It could be due to the Memorial Day weekend, I guess. The other thing I noticed was that there were a lot of musicians (more than usual). It felt like every few feet there was another one. The cool thing is that there was a lot of variety--guitar, wind instruments, strings, and acapella singing.My favorite was a young guy playing gorgeous classical music. My kids said, "Mom, I want to give money." I said, "Absolutely, he's really good".

I realized that in my 13 years living in the Madison area, that I had never taken a picture of the capital. What a beautiful blue sky to take it with.

Rather than talking on and on I'll just show you the beauty of the farmers market.

Ciao for now!

Everybody needs a vacation!

Everybody needs a vacation!

Especially me. Hee Hee. I just successfully completed my first semester of nursing school. Nursing school is harder and more time consuming than anything I have every done. Don't get me wrong--I've been doing this school thing for awhile. I have a BS in Psychology from UW Oshkosh (1995) and I started back to school again in 2004. I went to UW Madison where I took Chemistry, Anatomy, Physiology, etc.

Anyone who knows me, knows how I struggled with math and science. There were so many times where it would have been really easy to just quit.

On top of it all, I have two young children that demand my attention. Of course, they are my first priority. School has to come second. Work is third. Fun comes in dead last, of course. However, I have learned that you HAVE TO MAKE TIME for the fun. I can't get through the first three priorities without the fun!

This kind of brings me back to vacation and why I need it so bad. I won't go into all of the sordid details, because you will never come back to read my blog again. You will be way too bored. However, here is the thing. Why is it that vacation planning is so difficult? Last night I spent my evening on the internet trying to find the "right" camping location. Ugh. Did we reserve a sight? No. Did we pick a campground? No. Did we even figure out what part of the state we want to visit? Answer it with me: "NO!". So that is why I didn't update my blog last night. By 11:30 I was too tired to stare at the computer anymore.

Anyone know a great camping place?

Now for the part you have all been waiting for. Part II of "Movie Star--filming Public Enemies". Don't get too excited. The third day of filming took place in Darlington, Wisconsin. Never been there myself. On this day, my husband was one of about 120 people who sat in the courtroom as a "spectator" during the courtroom scene. We may or may not see him in the movie. He said they did lots of close-ups though. The most interesting thing about this scene is that he got to watch and listen to the actors saying lines. Johnny Depp/Dillinger was brought in wearing shackles and didn't have any lines.

So as "Movie Star" is telling me about his day, I am asking things like: "Where were you sitting?" "Where was JD in relation to you?" "Did you talk to anyone?" "Did you talk to him?" Answers were: "They moved us around" "He was only a few feet away, sometimes" "Not really" and "Not today".

Denoument.

He didn't have a whole lot to say and I had to pry it all out of him! Yanking teeth! Then, at some point, when we weren't even discussing the movie he says, "Oh yeah, did I tell you that I saw Robert D'niro? " (I have know idea how to spell it.) NO--YOU FAILED TO MENTION THAT! He said he couldn't figure out why he would be there, since he isn't in the movie, as far as he knew. Then, he found out that it is D'niro's production company that is producing it. Did any of you know that he was there? I have to say that it never showed up in the news. I guess some secrets CAN be kept.

So now you can see why I say that it is like pulling teeth to get information from him.

He said it was interesting how people used to smoke everywhere. They asked if any of the extras smoked. Then they promptly gave them packs of "Lucky Strikes" etc. and told them to smoke while they watched the court scene. I quickly asked him if he volunteered and he smartly answered, "no". Whew. Don't need him to start up that nasty habit. He kicked that one when he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002 (he's a survivor!).

Soooo, where was I during all of this filming? Sitting home, on my spring break, with a broken car. Ugh. AND, my kids were not on spring break, so I had to stay home and get them on the bus and home again. and work. and beg for rides. Sigh. Us movie star wives realy have to make sacrifices. (smile)

And that is why I NEED A VACATION!

Coming soon, part III of "Movie Star--Filming Public Enemies". . .

Ciao for now!

"Good morning starshine, the earth says hello!"

"Good morning starshine, the earth says hello!"

Every blog starts somewhere, and mine starts at the beginning. You can't get much earlier than Dawn. The quote above comes from my favorite actor, Johnny Depp, in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. One of my kids absolutely loves that movie! I would have to say it isn't my favorite JD movie. So far, my favorite one is Finding Neverland. However, I think that one will be surpassed next July when the movie Public Enemies comes out. Why, do you ask? Well, the excitement of filming Public Enemies in Wisconsin is what got me started on blogging.

Let's start from the beginning. My husband went to the open call to be an extra in the movie, Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp. He was selected, which is cool, but we never expected his level of involvement in the film. First, he went to wardrobe and had his haircut by "Manny". Manny cuts the hair of Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Joli (among many others I'm sure). That was pretty cool, too.

On the very first day of filming, my husband got up at the crack of dawn and drove to Columbus. For the first scene they filmed, he was a detective and road around in the back of a police car, holding a gun. He road in that police car all day. All day long they drove past Johnny Depp who was driving his own car. Then, "reset" back up, and do it again. When he got home that night, the first thing I asked was, did you see JD? He did. Wow! Not only that, but they waved to each other several times when they reset. How exciting!

On day two of filming, it got even better! My hubby was a "man on the street" and witnessed the "heist"/aka bank robbery that they filmed in Columbus. He had to react to the robbery, and then run and duck when Dillinger came down the street shooting his gun. If you see the movie, he is the one in the blue hat. I'm pretty sure they won't be cutting that one out. It seems like a pretty important part of the scene. Even more exciting, is that JD walked by at one point, and said, "Hi, how's it going?" Oh my God--he talked to him! You see, one of the rules of being an extra is that you can't approach the actors. But JD talked to HIM. I couldn't believe the awesome experiences that my husband was having.

This is where blogging comes in. Since I am in nursing school, I was missing out on all of the fun. So I got on the internet and found the Public Enemies Columbus Blog. Thanks to the blog author, Rod, I was able to get tidbits of information on what was going on in Columbus. Rod is an awesome writer, and I got hooked! So instead of "pulling teeth" from my husband to get information I was able to read the blog and know what was happening.

I'll save more stories for future days. All in all, my husband was involved in many days and nights of filming for Public Enemies. He worked in Columbus, Darlington, and at Mirror Lake. After the first week he became a stand-in (since he was quite visible in other scenes). The stories get even more interesting, since he was right in the middle of everything going on. This really has been a dream come true for him. So I tease him and call him "Movie Star". That is how I got the blog name "Movie Star Wife".

Ciao for now!
Dawn