Also during Cathy's last visit here, the phone rang Saturday afternoon. I answered it and on the other end was a collection agency looking for an immediate payment on some of the debt I'd accrued when I lived in Onalaska. I had been trying so hard to scrape pennies together to at least get a cheap vehicle, and the call caught me off-guard. Still, the effect on me has been a further head-in-the-sand approach, and avoidance of picking up the telephone. One thing about voice-mail that my family must appreciate is that fact that I can't dial-up online if there's a message waiting, so my calls from them are returned the same day, rather than two weeks later as was last the case.

A few days after Cathy's visit, it was my mom's turn. She always takes a one-week vacation around her birthday, and this year she spent three days of it up here visiting me. I gave her a tour of the school and introduced her to my comrades there. Thursdays are my early days at school, with my last class for the day over at 11am. Mom said she wanted to be a tourist, so she drove us up to Green Bay. We took a tour of Lambeau Field, then popped over to the Oneida casino so she could drop $20 worth of nickels into the slot machines. We had a very nice time together, and it was good for my soul to have company for a few days.

In the time since Mom's visit, though, my attempts at trying to curb (and eventually quit) smoking have been less than successful. As I said, I feel so stressed... so out of control.. so off-from-center.

On Saturday, May 15, it was a beautiful day and I needed to get out of the apartment. I took a walk that led to an odyssey of sorts. I walked to the "top" of Lake Winnebago to Waverly Beach in Calumet County. From there, I skirted the shore to Brighton Beach, through the Heckrodt Reserve, through Jefferson Park, and on to the Manitowoc Street boat launch. I was taking pictures of the lake to share with you here that afternoon, and thought a shot of the river there would be nice. As it turned out, a nice gentleman and his dad were about to launch Great Escape for the first time this year, and asked if I could help. I was happy to. As a reward for my effort, I was given a quick ride on the lake to open her up. It was a blast.

They dropped me off at the Menasha Marina, only a few blocks from my house, but instead of going home I went out for a drink (at that time, my first in over a month), then across to Doty Island and Smith Park. After having walked about six miles, I thought I'd treat myself to a nice supper and found myself in Luigi's for the first time. (Great Italian food... I'll be headed back again, I'm certain.) The day was odd, carrying many mixed feelings. Walking past the school had me thinking of my HHS students... walking along the shore I tried to gain energy but somehow couldn't... the boat ride, though terribly fun, brought some feelings of the have-nots in my life... and dinner had me wishing I had someone to share it with. It was time to head for home.