Category: Family

Independence Day

Posted on by Todd Osborne

The picture to the left is the amount of money we have spent SO FAR this year alone on cigarettes at Kwik Trip. It was taken out of Quicken today, $1,474.18 year-to-date. It says Groceries for Category, and sometimes this includes Coke or Mountain Dew, but the vast majority of that money is cigarettes. And we don’t only buy smokes at Kwik Trip, we buy them at other places as well. $1,474.18 is likely LESS than we have actually spent on them. It’s hard to read, but every 2-3 days we spend about $20-$25 on cigarettes at Kwik Trip.

Everyone in the US knows that tomorrow is the 4th of July, Independence Day. Tomorrow is also Independence Day for Missy and me. We are quitting smoking, for good, no more. I smoke much more than Missy, between 1 and 2 packs per day, she smokes about a 1/2 pack. I have been smoking since I was 15 years old and am pushing 40 pretty hard now, so I know that I NEED to quit.

I am writing this blog entry for me to read tomorrow, this weekend, next week, and next month. Even 6 months or more down the road, to remind myself why I am quitting and what it is like to be a smoker. My reasons are quitting are many, here are just a few…

  1. Delaney, Haley, and Halle. My daughters need me to be around for a good long time. They need my financial and parental support for many years to come. And I need them. I want to be around to walk each of them down the aisle at their wedding, and want to have many good years of playing with my grandchildren.
  2. Missy needs me too. I’m not sure why 🙂 I know I need her in my life, things are much more in balance since I have known and loved her.
  3. Everything I enjoy doing for fun is so anti-smoking it’s not even funny. I love to SCUBA dive, but go through air so fast that I can only stay underwater about 1/2 as long as my non-smoking friends. I have recently taken up flying aerobatics, which is physically as well as mentally challenging. To perform aerobatics well you have to be in good physical shape.
  4. Flying in general. Aviation is my passion, and part of being able to fly is passing an FAA required medical examination every 1-2 years. A heart attack can, and likely will, ground a pilot for the rest of his life. I would like to become a flight instructor some day, but will have to have at least a 2nd class FAA medical, something that would be almost impossible to get should I suffer from any of the smoking related health issues.
  5. I enjoy boxing. Not competitive boxing so much, though I have tried that, but getting a good cardio workout punching a heavy bag. I hate exercise in general, but do enjoy boxing. Right now I get winded walking up the stairs in my house, and the heavy bag has not even been mounted in over 2 years.
  6. I am tired of coughing. I cough a lot, smokers cough. The mornings are the worse, when all the crap in your lungs has a chance to settle overnight. It is sometimes so bad that I get into a coughing fit in the morning for several minutes and have a hard time catching my breath. Remember that Todd, how your chest feels right now. Gooey, for lack of a better word, like your lungs are full of snot. Not a pretty picture is it? Remember that next week, as your lungs start to clear out, and the nicotine cravings are real bad. I’ve done this before, I know I feel MUCH better just a few days after I quit. My lungs clear very quickly and I notice the difference. There is near immediate payment for my struggles, don’t give up!
  7. I’ve heard that quitting smoking increases your sex drive. Hell, that should be reason enough!
  8. Thanks to our Communist governor Jim Doyle, and equally Communist Madison Mayor Dave, a pack of smokes cost $4.50. So that’s about $9 a day for me and $2.25 for Missy. $11.25 per day to kills ourselves real slow. Over $330 per month so we can shave 10-15 years off our lives? There are a lot of things we could spend $330 per month on. Or to look at it another way, $3,960 a year, that is a real nice vacation for Missy and me, as well as all of our kids! $3,960 would probably pay for ALL of the home improvements we would like to do to the home we are hoping to purchase later this month. We might even be able to fill up the Explorer and my F-150! 🙂
  9. Just feeling better in general. Sure the first week will be tough, but that week will pass.

I have tried to quit many times in the past and failed, but that was due to me not “really” wanting to quit. Other people wanted me to quit, I thought it “would be nice to quit”, but was never committed to it. I am now, and I know we NEED to quit. This blog entry is part of my plan, writing down the reasons that I want to quit, so that I can review them later. Another part of the plan is rewards for good behavior. I will let Missy create her own rewards, and whatever she comes up with will be fine with me. But here are my cookies:

  1. At 1 week, next Friday, I am going to rent a Cessna 152 and fly the hell out of it for 1 hour, solo, just flying around Madison doing whatever I feel like. Even money vs. smoking.
  2. At 1 month I am going to order the Acro Sport 2 airplane plans. I have wanted a set for some time and they cost $125. Smoking would have cost me $189 in this time frame, so I will already be $64 ahead.
  3. At 2 months, I am going to buy a bandsaw. The one I want costs $190, so I will then be $144 ahead.
  4. At 3 months I am going to order some Sitka Spruce to build the wings of the Acro Sport. I will spend about $250 on this, $20 less than smoking that month, and $164 more in my pocket than if I had smoked.
  5. At 6 months I am going to buy my own parachute. A used one runs about $600, and over the previous 3 months I will have saved $810 by not smoking. I will still be $374 in the black.
  6. At 1 year I am going to go skydiving. That only costs about $150, and it’s not worth keeping track of the money saved anymore by not smoking, that is just my reward for 1 year of not smoking. Do something that I have always wanted to do.

So there, I have listed some of the reasons I want to quit, and the rewards I will give to myself when I reach milestones along the way. I am going to quit Cold Turkey, which I know will make for 2-7 days of hell, but will also get the nicotine out of my system completely and quickly. I don’t want to do this slowly. I don’t want to use a patch, gum, inhaler, or anything else. To me those just prolong the misery, cost money, and I have tried them in the past. Just quit. Like Haley says “Just stop doing it”. She’s right, there is a lot of wisdom in a 7 year old.

Haley's Birthday and Immelman Turns

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Happy Birthday Bug! It’s hard to believe you are 7 years old already! We all love you very much!

Today I flew my 5th aerobatic lesson with Mike Love. We started out with the normal aileron rolls on our way out to the practice area. We actually went a little farther north, just beyond the Wisconsin River near Sauk City because other students were practicing to the south. Once we got there, I did several loops, pretty nice ones too. So now aileron rolls and loops are old hat, not really a challenge to me anymore, and they don’t make me sick. Time to move on!

When you are learning aerobatics you start of with rolls and loops because they are the building blocks of more complex maneuvers. I was hoping for some Cuban 8’s today, but those will have to wait, the Immelman Turn is the obvious next step. It is named for the World War 1 German ace that invented it. The object of the Immelman is to reverse direction by 180 degrees while gaining altitude and losing airspeed. It is the nearly opposite of a Split-S. If the animation below does not work, just click it.

To perform the Immelman in a Cessna Aerobat you start by diving to get your speed up to 130 knots, about 10 knots faster than when doing a loop. You then pull up to about 3.5-4 G’s and hold that until you are near the top of the loop. At the top, you provide a little gentle forward pressure, just enough to hang there for a short second. This is real easy so far, now on to the part I had trouble with.

To roll the wings level you can roll either left or right, but have to initially provide opposite rudder. So if you roll left, you need some right rudder, and vice-versa. But you only use opposite rudder for a second, then switch to the other foot. It is similar to doing a crosswind landing, but upside down. I had a problem with this. I just could not seem to roll left and use right rudder, or roll right and use left. It actually became quite humorous, I just could not convince my feet to do what I wanted them to. The result was dubbed “The Osborne Turn” by my instructor, it is like an Immelman, but instead of turning 180 degrees, you turn either 90 or 270. Quite interesting 🙂

The first one I did actually resulted in me being pinned to the ceiling of the plane. I did not have my seatbelts tight enough, and the hang-time at the top of the loop made my head hit the ceiling. It was not comfortable, but it was funny. I tightened the seatbelts 🙂

Mike also warned me about the possiblity of spinning out of the top of an Immelman, that it is sometimes called the Immelman Spin because of the good likelihood of this happening. I guess I just had to prove it to myself. I did spin out of one unintentionally, but even that was fun.

I never really got the hang of the Immelman, at least not yet, so I will be back to face these again next week. The rest of the flight was real nice, a beautiful morning to fly.

Flying to Appleton

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Today Missy, Halle, Haley and I flew Cessna 172 N75706 from Middleton to Appleton, Wisconsin. Last week I bought an older Lowrance AirMap 300 handheld GPS (to use as a backup) off eBay and wanted to test it out. The flight was originally going to happen yesterday, but it was very windy so I moved the flight to today, and that was a good decision.

I had not done a cross-country flight in a while, so I sort of obsessed over the planning the last few days, checking and double-checking all of my calculations and notes. Normally I am not this meticulous (anal), but considering almost my entire family was in this plane (only Delaney was missing) I wanted to make sure everything went perfect, even though the entire flight was less than 100 miles each way. My biggest concern was not busting any controlled airspace in Madison, Oshkosh and Appleton.

Doing something that I have not done since my private pilot check-ride in 1989, but something I should always do, I filed VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flight plans with the FAA. This is optional for VFR flights, but is a free insurance policy. Basically if you don’t show up at your destination within 30 minutes of when you say you will be there, the FAA starts looking for you. It’s a good idea to file, and only takes a couple of minutes.

I got up a little earlier in the morning and took my first weather observation, I looked out the window of my bedroom. Finding the skies critically clear with calm winds, I logged onto the AOPA Flight Planner and recalled my previously planned route, which took us from Middleton to Madison to Oshkosh to Appleton. I requested weather information, which showed forecast surface winds out of the west at 5-15 knots and winds aloft at 6000′ out of the northwest at 22 knots, indicating we would have a crosswind on both legs of the flight, slowing us down a little in both directions. Winds at 3000′ were lighter, but I did not want to fly that low, I had filed for 5500′. I left for the airport a little after 9AM, Missy would bring the kids about 10:30 or so.

I hung out at the airport just talking to Rich Morey for a while and watching the other planes practice in the calm morning air. An old Pietenpol open-cockpit plane was taxiing out on the grass runway when I pulled in and I watched him take off. That would be fun! I was quietly trying to persuade Rich to sell the 152 Aerobat and buy a Super Decathlon. He is trying to sell one of the 172’s to buy a Super Cub, which would be great, but I told him I thought the best thing would be to sell a 172 and the Aerobat, then buy the Super Decathlon. He would get a great aerobatic plane and a tail-dragger all in the same plane. I doubt he will do it, but I could see the gears turning in his head 🙂

A little after 10AM, the girl that was practicing in my plane landed and I asked the lineman to top off the fuel, taking much more than we actually needed. We could have flown to and from Appleton about 3 times with that much fuel, but it’s one of those things that I would rather have in the wings than on the ground. I did a thorough preflight inspection and got the plane set up for our flight, which included borrowing 3 extra headsets from Rich for the family. I mounted my new GPS and called up the flight plan on it. I found the previous pilots digital camera on the floor and took it back to Rich to return to her. About 10:45 the girls showed up, everything was looking good.

I pulled the girls into the pilot lounge for a last minute briefing. We covered my rules of no talking below 1000′ and to always listen when air traffic control says “Cessna 706…” and shut up immediately, don’t even finish your sentence. And the second to last rule, when my hand goes up, the mouth goes shut. The final rule of course is to have fun and enjoy the flight. We climbed in the plane and took off about 15 minutes late, about 11:15AM.

Initially climbing west, away from Madison’s airspace and towards Cross Plains, I opened my flight plan with Green Bay Flight Service and showed the girls Cross Plains. I contacted Madison Approach Control before climbing through their airspace up to 5500′. We had a great view of Madison, Lake Mendota and the Madison airport, which we flew directly over. As we were flying over, a RegionalJet was taking off directly below us, that was cool to watch. The air traffic controllers were pretty busy this morning, but there was no traffic near us, and after crossing Madison we turned directly on course, V341 to Oshkosh.

About 35 northeast of Madison, air traffic control told us to contact Milwaukee Approach control on 127.0. This caught me by surprise, I was expecting Chicago Center on 133.3. I asked the controller to repeat that was for us, and she said yes, Milwaukee would take us from here. So I called up Milwaukee and they provided VFR flight following until we were a few miles north of Oshkosh, and only about 13 south of Appleton. I didn’t know their RADAR reached that far, but apparently it does!

The flight was perfect, the air was calm and there were no advisories for other aircraft that came our way, the skies were nearly empty. Quite a surprise to me considering how good the flying conditions were. The only advisories were about parachute jumpers near Fond Du Lac and Fort Atkinson, a long way from us. We started our decent about 5 miles north of Oshkosh, with 13 miles to go.

I contacted Appleton tower and told them we were 13 miles south and had the runway in sight. He told me to expect runway 21 and winds were calm, so I planned to keep flying my present course, go past the airport, and then turn around and land on runway 21. About a mile or less from the airport and still at 2500′ the controller asked me if I could land on runway 29. It was quite literally right in front of me, just a 90 degree left turn, but I was high. I should have said no, but I said yes, chopped the power and dropped the flaps.

I could not get the speed down quick enough and was doing about 75 knots (65 is perfect) over the numbers, meaning the flare would be long, and it was. It took a long time to bleed off the extra airspeed. The gentle “porpoising” of the plane to kill airspeed did not bother me, but I was not thinking about Missy. She did not like it at all, so I will keep that in mind next time, and either turn down an approach like that, or make the final approach longer. A stable approach not only makes for good landings, but makes your non-pilot passengers feel better. The landing itself was fine, but the winds were not calm as the controller stated, they were shifty, from all directions, about 5 knots. On landing they were from the left.

I was in the middle of telling the controller I was going to taxi to MaxAir and did not know where it was when I saw it, right next to the airline terminal, which was right next to our plane. He told me to make a “half-turn on taxiway Bravo”, and voila, we were there. Taxiing in, MaxAir had a lineman providing directions and wheel chocks. Very professional, and much appreciated. We could see Paul, Heidi, Natalie, Will and Joel waving to us through the window at MaxAir. I parked the plane and shut it down, telling the lineman we did not need fuel, just needed to borrow some tarmac space for a while.

We were greeted by the entire Heuring family, and they told us that another plane had landed just before us. Thinking it was us, they gave them the same welcome! 🙂 After a short break, I climbed back in the plane with Paul, Will, and Joel for a scenic flight around Appleton. All the other girls left with Heidi to go to their home. Will and Joel had never flown before, in any plane, so this was really a first for them. I told the controller our intentions and we taxied back to runway 29 for takeoff.

We had a real nice scenic fl

ight. After taking off we headed east about 10 miles at 2500′ (1600′ above the ground) which took us over the city of Appleton. We turned south towards Lake Winnebago, and then west towards the airport while skirting the very northern edge of the lake. The visibility was literally 80 miles or more, terrific, and only a couple of small bumps along the way. We landed back on runway 29 and headed for their home. The boys loved it, they talked about the flight the rest of the day.

Paul grilled brats and hot dogs while Heidi worked on the side dishes in the kitchen. We had a real nice visit and a great lunch. The kids played in the backyard and we finally got to meet the nearly-famous dogs, they were real cool. I hung out with Paul on the back porch while he was grilling, noticing the cumulus clouds that were now starting to form in the otherwise blue skies. This is a warning to pilots, so I kept and eye on the sky the rest of the afternoon.

I knew we were not going to make our 3PM departure, so I called Flight Service on the phone and pushed it back to 3:30 and also got an update on weather conditions in Madison. 4500′ scattered cumulus, light winds out of the west, good flying reported, pretty much exactly what the weather in Appleton was. We finished our (late) lunch and headed back to the airport to come home.

I warned everyone we would likely encounter light turbulence until we were about 1/2 way to Madison. I was half-right, we did encounter light turbulence, but it did not end until our wheels hit the runway in Middleton 🙂 The route home was the reverse of the arrival, and was uneventful.

Well there was one small event, Haley’s lunch paid us a return visit. This was only her 2nd flight in a small plane, and apparently the hot dog and Kool-Aid she had for lunch’s first airplane ride. She said she was going to throw up and I told them to look for Sick Sacks in the panel behind my seat. There were none. Damn, I knew I should have included that in my preflight check! Missy had a cheap WalMart jacket that had to take one for the team. So Bug emptied her stomach and then to everyone’s relief, fell asleep. Poor Halle had to deal with the vomit jacket the rest of the trip, but she pulled through for us!

The landing at home was good, and everyone was glad that leg of the flight was over, including me. We all had a great time. A wonderful flight up to Appleton, a great scenic flight with the boys, a perfect Wisconsin lunch, and terrific people to spend the afternoon with. The return flight could have been better if we had some calmer air, but it was safe, and we all made it back just a little tired but happy after having such a nice day.

The old $65 eBay purchased Lowrance AirMap 300 GPS also worked flawlessly and was a joy to use. It is simple and provides just the right amount of information. I cannot for the life of me figure out why they make panel mount GPS’s so damn complicated, and they do. The way I see it, I am a pilot and computer programmer, and if I cannot figure out the panel mount GPS then they have designed it wrong. This plane has a multi-thousand dollar Garmin 530 mounted in the instrument panel. I used it for the communications (radio) and VOR tracking, but did not touch the GPS navigation part of it. Too many dials, buttons, screens, settings, etc. I need to look outside the plane (or at the other instruments), not at this screen for 5 minutes trying to get it to do something. The $65, 8 year old, handheld GPS worked flawlessly.

Small Airshow But Very Cool

Posted on by Todd Osborne

The entire family spent the afternoon at the Southern Wisconsin AirFest in Janesville, where the Canadian Snowbirds were the headline performance. But they were definitely not the only show in town!

The first aerobatic performance was from Susan Dacy, an airline captain out of Chicago flying an old biplane capable of simple aerobatics, but she put on quite a show, and ended her performance by racing a rocket powered Dodge pickup truck. The truck won the race, but it was very cool to watch. They claim the truck hit 330 MPH, and from what I saw, I pretty much believe it.

The US Navy came next, demonstrating the FA-18 fighter/attack airplane. This is an impressive plane, even if military aircraft is not your thing. It did a low-level pass at over 650 MPH with the afterburners on, and rocked the place like an earthquake. I wish I had been videotaping the girls instead of the plane, because when the roar of the engines passed by it was deafening (literally) and they hit the deck! They did not expect that at all. This plane also has unbelievable slow flight abilities which the pilot showed by making another pass that could not have been more than about 70 MPH. The rocket powered Dodge truck did not even attempt to race this plane 🙂

Up next was Mike Goulian in his Extra. He did a mind-blowing aerobatic performance with a lot of snap rolls, flat spins, hammerheads, loops, rolls and one stunt that I cannot even describe, other than totally out of control. I have been a pilot myself for over 20 years and I could not figure out how he did what he did. He is also a Red Bull racer and is competing in Detroit next weekend, so I will have to catch that on TV.


The US Air Force came next, demonstrating the F-15 figher. This plane is incredible to watch, don’t get me wrong, but the FA-18 is in another class entirely. The coolest part of this performance, at least for me and the others that understand its significance, was a formation flight with the F-15 and P-51 Mustang. The Mustang led the way with the F-15 just off its wing for several minutes of tight formation flying. It was very cool to see the best of the old-school (the P-51 is over 65 years old) fighters and some of the latest military aviation technology flying side by side. You just had to be there.


And of course the Canadian Snowbirds finished the show. The most impressive thing about them is the shear number of planes involved, 9 today. They are a lot of fun to watch, but spend a lot of time far away from airport rather than keeping their act overhead. This causes the kids (and some adults) to lose interest as there is usually a 1-2 minute pause between “interesting” things. They are good, without a doubt, but my vote is still for the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds. They keep it tight and fast the entire show.

Summer is for Aviation!

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Today is a beautiful spring Saturday in Wisconsin. The temperature is supposed to hit 73 and nothing but critically clear sunshine is forecast for the entire day. The entire family is getting ready to drive down to Janesville for the Southern Wisconsin AirFest airshow, where the Canadian Snowbirds are the headliners. There are also other military teams as well as non-military performers scheduled to appear. I will update the log later today with our pictures from this show. In 2 weeks, the US Air Force Thunderbirds will be in Rockford, IL and we plan to go there too. Next Saturday, Missy, Halle, Kelsi and me have a 172 reserved for a flight up to Appleton to visit Heidi and her family, and give rides up there. I hope the weather next Saturday is as good as today!

Morels and Brad Paisley

Posted on by Todd Osborne

You’d think that after living in Wisconsin for over 8 years I would have at least tried Morel mushrooms, but until yesterday you would have been wrong. Since moving to Wisconsin I have tried many new things: Snowmobiling, ATV’s, shotgun sports, driving without road-rage, drunk dialing, landing on snow and ice covered runways, hunting various animals, dodging students in the road at UW, divorce, marriage, camping, and leaving my house unlocked. But I never ate a Morel mushroom. After all, they don’t exactly look appetizing and grow wild up here in the grossest of places.

Yesterday was the day. We went to Missy’s mom’s house for Mother’s Day and they had just picked some fresh Morels and were eager to fry them up. I was a bit nervous to eat one, since it looks gross, like something you might find growing on a coral reef when scuba diving. Ahh, but looks can be deceiving. These things are friggin’ awesome! After tasting a super-small one, I could hardly keep my hand out of the mushroom jar! Randy then told me to be careful how many I ate, since there is apparently some point where your body will reject them. It’s kinda like knowing when you should have that last beer, where one more ounce will leave you clinging for life and hugging the porcelain god. I did not reach that point, but I guess I will have to someday, just so I know where that point is.

I might get my chance tonight. While Halle and I were enjoying lunch at Shelton’s, a guy came in with way too many of these. Seems he had quite a Morel hunting, and had much more than he could eat or even sell. He gave us a box of them, as well as Joleene the bartender. Missy will be surprised when she gets home, or before if she reads this blog!

And special thank go out to Brad Paisley, for writing the perfect “Todd Song”.

When you see a deer you see Bambi
And I see antlers up on the wall
When you see a lake you think picnics
And I see a large mouth up under that log
You’re probably thinking that you’re going to change me
In some ways well maybe you might
Scrub me down, dress me up oh but no matter what
remember I’m still a guy

When you see a priceless French painting
I see a drunk, naked girl
You think that riding a wild bull sounds crazy
And I’d like to give it a whirl
Well love makes a man do some things he ain’t proud of
And in a weak moment I might…
walk your sissy dog, hold your purse at the mall
But remember, I’m still a guy

I’ll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around knock some jerk to the ground
‘Cause he copped a feel as you walked by

I can hear you now talking to your friends
Saying, “Yeah girls he’s come a long way”
From dragging his knuckles and carrying a club
And building a fire in a cave
But when you say a backrub means only a backrub
Then you swat my hand when I try
Well, now what can I say at the end of the day
Honey, I’m still a guy

And I’ll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around knock some jerk to the ground
‘Cause he copped a feel as you walked by

These days there’s dudes getting facials
Manicured, waxed and botoxed
With deep spray-on tans and creamy lotiony hands
You can’t grip a tacklebox

Yeah with all of these men lining up to get neutered
It’s hip now to be feminized
I don’t highlight my hair
I’ve still got a pair
Yeah honey, I’m still a guy

Oh my eyebrows ain’t plucked
There’s a gun in my truck
Oh thank God, I’m still a guy

Jodi Klare Will Always Be Our Crystal Apple Award Winner

Posted on by Todd Osborne
It seems NBC 15 in Madison almost got it right!

Each year the Madison NBC affiliate holds a contest to recognize the best teachers in the area. Missy and I nominated Halle’s 3rd grade teacher, Jodi Klare, for this award in April because of how much love and caring she showed to Halle (and indeed all of us) following the death of Halle’s father in a February snowmobile accident. Jodi is an excellent teacher and we love her.

We did our best to help her win the award by writing a heartfelt letter along with our nomination entry. Jodi did not win the award, but was given an Honorable Mention on the news last night and will be invited, along with Park Elementary Principal Karen Jones, to an awards and recognition dinner later this month. Jodi is a wonderful teacher and a sweet, caring and all around terrific person. She will always be our Crystal Apple Award winner, as well as part of our family.

Here is an edited version of the nomination letter we submitted:

To whom it may concern,

We are writing this letter to nominate Jodi Klare at Park Elementary School in Cross Plains for the Crystal Apple award. I (Todd) have known Jodi for a couple of years and always thought she was one of the finest teachers I have ever met. We have 3 daughters that attend Park Elementary, 9 year old Delaney who had Mrs. Klare 2 years ago, my step-daughter Halle who is currently in Mrs. Klare’s 3rd grade class and 6 year old Haley who we sincerely hope will also be in her class in 2 years.

Our family’s interaction with Jodi this year is what has prompted us to nominate her for this award. We can think of nobody possibly more deserving of this award than Jodi. The past year has been full of highs and lows for our family, and Jodi has made a huge impact in our lives through the good and bad. Before we get to the specifics of why we think Jodi is most deserving of this award, please allow us to provide just a little family background.

As stated above, Halle is my 9 year old step-daughter. I hate the word “step-anything” so I refer to her as my daughter in the same way that Delaney and Haley are my daughters. Her mother Melissa (Missy) and I were married in July 2007. Missy and Halle previously lived in Mazomanie where Halle attended Mazomanie Elementary, so after the wedding they moved into my home in Cross Plains. Halle had to change schools and started attending Park Elementary this school year, and fortunately for us, was placed in Jodi’s 3rd grade class.

Changing schools is difficult for any child, and Halle was no different. On the first day of school Jodi introduced Halle to the class and during recess made sure that Halle was paired up with other kids to play with. This, combined with her new sisters also being at Park Elementary, helped to make this transition as easy as possible, though it was very difficult for Halle.

Halle is a terrific student and is very smart and mature for her age. We received regular updates from Jodi about how Halle was adjusting to her new school, new friends, new family, and just about everything else that was new or different in her life. Jodi shared with us the stories that Halle would tell and write about in her journal, her artwork that often included the new family, and other interesting and amusing things Halle did with Jodi. She also shared all of this with Halle’s biological father, Michael Gullickson, by making parent-teacher conferences regarding Halle’s progress available to Mike as well. Halle loves Jodi, and the reverse is also true, as we found out through a tragedy that would take place during the winter.

Halle loved her father deeply. He had not been a significant part of her life for the first 5 years, but the last 3 he really shined. He grew up, took a strong and sincere interest in his daughter, loved and cherished her. And she loved him, as did everyone that met him, including me. As possibly the one person that should never have liked him, I did, a lot, he was a good man. Not without faults, but a good and decent man.

One of Halle’s favorite things to do was to ride snowmobiles with her dad. He had a modest home with a large yard in Ridgeway and when the snow started flying in December he started teaching her to ride a small snowmobile he had bought for her. He taught her about safety, bought her a proper helmet, and made sure she could handle the snowmobile. She rode with him on his sled a lot until she got the hang of it. They never went on the trails, just kept it in the yard, but she loved it. And he loved watching her, and taking pictures of his “Little Princess” riding. The pride oozed out of him. In early February, Missy went to pick Halle up at her dads and Halle gave her a ride on the snowmobile. Mike laughed and took pictures the whole time, he loved it.

Mike was killed in a head-on snowmobile accident in Blue Mounds on February 20th, 2008. Now the little girl that loved her dad and snowmobiles so much had to be told that her father was killed in a snowmobile accident. This was the hardest thing that Missy and I had ever done in our lives. Once an image like that gets into a child’s head, it does not want to leave. She has good and bad days, but every night at bed time has to relive that horrible news.

But back to Jodi Klare, and why we feel there is absolutely no doubt why she is the hands down winner of the Crystal Apple Award. We always knew Jodi was a wonderful teacher, but following the death of Halle’s dad, she proved it, going WAY beyond the scope of her job and deeply touching Halle, and us.

Immediately upon being notified of the news, the sweet and caring gears in Jodi’s mind must have gone to work. The first surprise came 2 days later. Jodi and the school counselor had made a delicious (and that does not do it justice) chicken and pesto dinner and hand-delivered it to our home. Our lives were in a chaotic state, and this relatively simple act of kindness proved to us that good and decent people very much exist in this world, at least in Cross Plains, Wisconsin.

A couple days later was Mike’s funeral in Blue Mounds. We knew this would be an extraordinarily difficult day for everyone, mostly Halle. The church was overfl

owing, much more than capacity, a true testament to all of the people who loved Mike. Members of various motorcycle gangs/clubs were there, family, extended family, friends, businessmen, criminals and clergy. And there was Jodi, with the school counselor by her side. Halle’s eyes lit up when she saw Jodi, and a very sad little girl gave her the biggest smile. The loved that flowed in both directions was unmistakable. Her mere presence made this day so much better for Halle, and everyone else.

Halle missed almost 2 weeks of school following her father’s death. It was made even harder because on March 9th, she turned 9, and her father had made big plans for her golden birthday, including a trip to Appleton to the American Doll company. During this time, Jodi kept Halle as much up to date as she could. She regularly checked in with us, and brought homework to our home so that Halle would not fall behind. Halle is a very good student and appreciated this; she actually enjoyed doing her work.

Before Halle returned to school, Jodi asked us what the class should be told about Halle’s absence, and how much they should be told. We all agreed that the truth was the best, and Jodi told the rest of the class about the accident and that Halle’s father had been killed. Her class welcomed her back and everyone was very kind and understanding, no doubt a testament to how Jodi instructed the class about the circumstances.

Even though Halle had been able to keep up with her homework thanks to Jodi, she was still a little behind on the things that were taught in class while she was out. Following a parent-teacher conference with Missy and me, Jodi offered to let Halle stay after school for private lessons, and let Halle do it on her schedule, as her emotional state allowed. Since Jodi also lives in Cross Plains (and surely even if she didn’t), she offered to give Halle a ride home after school. Since I work at home, this was not needed, but was just another reason why she is such a tremendous teacher.

Halle took her up on this offer, and stayed late after school for several days. Jodi and Halle also worked together during recess to get her caught up. We can only assume that this means Jodi gave up some valuable recovery time from a bunch of crazy 3rd graders in the teachers’ lounge! But she did, and we love her for it. Within a week or so, on a day I was to pick up Halle late from school, Jodi called me to tell me they were all caught up and Halle was doing great. She would ride the bus home.

The PTA of Park Elementary also raised $750 in US Savings Bonds that were given to Halle. They will be used for her college education, and we have no doubt that Jodi was instrumental in getting this ball rolling. Everyone at Park Elementary is terrific, and we are blessed to live in this town where our children get this level of love and care.

I wrote a letter to the school principal, Mrs. Jones, praising Jodi for her love and caring, not to mention her teaching skills. We were not surprised in the slightest when Mrs. Jones wrote me back in total agreement. It seems we are not the first parents that have such high regards for Jodi.

Jodi is the physical embodiment of what a great and wonderful teacher should be. She is the kind of teacher that any parent and any child would dream of having. We wish we could cast 1,000,000 votes for her in your contest. This quality of person is very hard to find, and when that person is your daughter’s teacher, what more could you ask for? We know what we will ask for. When our youngest daughter get’s to 3rd grade you can bet we will beg and plead with the powers that be that she be enrolled in Jodi Klare’s class!

Please don’t let this quality of teacher escape without recognition. We cannot provide enough accolades to convey exactly what Jodi has done for our family, and have certainly left out many smaller things she does every day. I was never fortunate enough to have had a teacher like this in my life, and I doubt many children do, but the kids of Cross Plains have a true friend and are very lucky that teachers like Jodi Klare do still exist in this world. She is truly worthy of your award, and we can think of none other more deserving.

We Will Wait

Posted on by Todd Osborne

Today, or maybe yesterday, marked the official end of our contract on the home. The mortgage broker (RLCA) totally failed us, refusing to go to bat for us with the bogus Landsafe appraisal. We had signed a 1-week extension last week for the appraisal to be adjusted, but this is not going to happen. So now we are back to square one. I was originally thinking we would wait another year to purchase a home, but I feel confident we can still make a purchase this year, probably in late summer or early fall. This will give us time to get our finances in even better shape.

Once again, the credit cards are paid off. I get a big smile inside myself whenever we do this, though it seems we still manage to find things to spend the money on. Last time it was our dog Thunder, who got so dehydrated we had to take him to the vet. He spent the night there, got some fluids, and $700 later we got our great dog back. He is officially worth 7 times what I paid for him! But we love him.

I am the financial planner in the family, and I don’t mind this job. I even find it sort of fun, in a somewhat sick way, and have taken to watching The Suze Orman show on CNBC. I can’t wait to start getting into more investments in the near future, but high-interest debts need to be taken care of first. The credit cards were the worst, so that is the big thing to avoid now that they are paid off. Almost as evil as them is government.

I used to do some contract programming work back in 2003 and 2004 and failed to account for all income. It was not intentional, my records keeping back then was less than perfect. So I owe Wisconsin about $2k, the IRS about 3k and Missy still owes Maryland about $4k. So the plans for the immediate future include paying off Wisconsin in a couple weeks, and Maryland in the next month or two. The IRS will probably wait until tax refund time next year, or another economic incentive package to help take out more of that balance. As each one is paid off, we have more money each month because we no longer make payments to them, and the 18% interest stops adding up. I would even like to pay off my truck, which is entirely possible, but only if we don’t buy a house. We would rather have a house.

I find myself dreaming of a debt-free day. I don’t mean mortgage or auto loan free, those will almost certainly always be there. But free of credit card and tax debt, and having just one car loan instead of two. I just don’t like clouds like that hanging over my head, and would much rather be making money off interest in investments than paying it. Am I getting old?

Nope, I refuse to grow up. Years of struggling with finances and many months of working very hard to pay off credit card debt, collections and other “issues” on our credit reports was rewarded today. I broke down and bought a Microsoft XBox 360 and Grand Theft Auto IV, for the family of course 🙂 Actually, it will be used mostly to simplify our TV entertainment center, something I will blog about later. The Grand Theft Auto IV is for me, when I feel the need to lose my freakin’ mind and mindlessly indulge in hookers, drugs, stealing crap, and killing people. Damn that is a good game!

And no, that purchase was NOT put on a credit card!

Rough Day?

Posted on by Todd Osborne

I have realized that my blog has become way too serious and somewhat of a downer lately. This is not my intent. Sometimes you gotta remind yourself what is really important in life. Everyone is healthy, happy and enjoying the great Wisconsin weather that has finally turned from winter to spring. Birds are chirping, the snow is gone, the grass is turning green, the skies are blue.

And of course, dogs and cats sleep harmoniously on our couch after a hard day of… well, doing absolutely nothing. Life is good.