West Side Stories

Thanks to the mysterious explosion at the Department of Public Works this weekend, we'll have to do a bit more work to make sure our recyclables are truly recycled. The fire knocked out the facility where recyclables are separated and so "the city will not be picking up the recycling bags curbside until officials determine how to handle separation of the recycling matter."

In the meantime, "residents are being urged to continue their recycling efforts and are asked to bring their recyclables to the city's drop-off center, which will continue to operate on a regular schedule, and will be open weekdays and Saturday mornings." I can't help but wonder how many Tosa residents will actually take this extra step. Hmmm...

Speaking of extra effort and something that will require some extra patience, I recommend avoiding the Harmonee Bridge at all costs in the next couple of weeks. Repair work has reduced traffic to one lane each way causing huge backups and commuter delays. 68th or 70th Street may be faster alternatives until this unexpected construction project is finished. We can only hope that this project won't last as long as the repairs on Milwaukee Avenue east of 76th Street.

At least 20 years ago, on the spot in the Village where Starbucks now sits, there used to be a convenience store. I'm pretty sure it was an Open Pantry. Since I was a young working mother back then, I frequented this store...a lot. Many a night you'd see me driving my tiny Toyota station wagon in there, dashing inside on a bleary-eyed search for milk or coffee or diapers. It wasn't the greatest or cleanest store, but it was c-o-n-v-e-n-i-e-n-t. I was sad to see it close because it meant I'd have to amend my emergency shopping trips or, worse, get organized. Still, when Starbucks moved in, being the card-carrying caffeine addict that I am, I was pretty excited.

Today, my life is so different. I'm a stay-at-home mom, so you'd think that quick trips to the store would be a thing of the past, or so I vowed when I handed in my resignation. However, some things in life never change, including my penchant for barely thinking a day ahead when it comes to grocery shopping. Maybe it's our nearly empty nest or perhaps my admission that I never have been a great cook, nor do I actually enjoy cooking. I generally wake up in the morning and force myself to think about what I'll feed the family. It's a luxury that I enjoy, even though I'm a bit embarrassed about it.

And because I haven't really changed my ways, I've searched long and hard to find a new "convenience" store and I just realized what it is - Sendik's on North Avenue at Pasadena. I fully realize that I'm likely paying more for virtually everything. After all, this is a gourmet grocery store. However, this store has saved my butt more times than I can count. More often than not, it's provides the answer to the question when I'm driving around at 4pm and my daughter asks: "What are we having for dinner?"

When I'm baking cookies (yes, it's sad - I bake but I don't cook) and I've run out of brown sugar, I'm SO glad that it's only minutes away. When a food item is needed for a school function, it's so easy to pick up something on the way. And when I actually have to break down and cook a meal, I can choose between something prepared or meat so good that even I can't ruin it.

I know that Sendik's isn't perfect. The parking situation is still in flux and that doesn't make the neighbors happy. It's not open as late as a true convenience store, but now that middle-age has crept in, I'm more likely to forego than go out late at night. And if you hit the store near the dinner hour, seems like every other Tosa procrastinator has gotten the same idea and those aisles seem even narrower than they are. But for me, it's pretty close to perfect, at least as far as convenience goes.

Despite what you might think, it's not the big things in Tosa (Mayfair, Lowe's, Best Buy) that make me love our town. It's the small things shared with great people. Here are just a few:

- The twin German brothers at Hyde Park Tailors that work miracles on clothing. (And properly teach me to pronounce my last name.)
- Getting yelled at by Al at Cranky Al's on a Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to my beatdowns starting up again.
- Shopping for Moccasins at Old Towne Cobbler on 68th Street
- Using the Automated Package Center at the Post Office on Mayfair Road. In and out in a snap!
- Saying hi to Mary at One Hour Martinizing on 68th and Milwaukee and talking about the weather.
- Shopping for school project supplies at Drew's Variety after school.
- Sitting at a tall table in Vino 100, sipping wine, while the weather outside is frightful.
- Finding just the right gift at Underwood Gallery and also catching up with Pam on what's new in Tosa business.
- Seating yourself at Hector's and digging into chips and salsa while awaiting your Margarita.
- Grabbing a loveseat at the Rosebud and balancing your food order number on the back of it.
- Snagging a coveted window table at John's Sandwich Shop on a Saturday morning and waiting for a Veggie Scrambler and hot coffee.
- Walking the path on Menomonee River Parkway on an unexpectedly balmy day and enjoying the variety of dogs and walkers that are out.
- Chatting with Rose at ***'s while waiting for my Chinese take-out order. She always comments on how our kids have grown and whips up a great cheeseburger for them.
- Having a yummy lunch in a basket at Colonel Hart's after Sunday church while watching sports on the many TVs.
- Tosa Fest in the village, early on Friday evening.
- Watching a football game at Hart Park while the girls parade by the boys who rarely seem to be watching the game.
- Waiting for a table outside Balistreri's and wandering into Ultimate Confections to make the time pass more quickly.

What are some of your favorite Tosa things? E-mail me at westsidestoriestosa@yahoo.com and I'll post them in a future column.

Dear Santa:
I give up. Christmas is starting much earlier than I think is reasonable, but I can't seem to fight commercialism. I noticed that your house was up in Mayfair by November 1st. I was almost expecting Tom Turkey to rent it out for a couple of weeks, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Anyway, since I can't stop the ebb and flow of holiday merchandising, I may as well just embrace it and jump head first into the season like everyone else. However, I have a few requests this year. Can you find it in your heart to give us Tosa grown-ups some treats under our Christmas tree? Here are a few suggestions:

The gift of patience. Even if we're quasi-Martha Stewarts, at some point during the next 40 days, we're going to shop. Help us take a deep breath and know that everything will take just a little longer and we should leave the attitude in the car.

The gift of kindness. Again with the shoppers - there will be a lot of us out there. We'll be hustling and bustling and our packages will be jostling. Give us the ability to step aside for a mom with kids, hold a door for someone carrying several packages, or let a car merge in front of us as we're battling traffic.

The gift of big things from small places. When we're out shopping, encourage us to find the small Tosa stores that help make our village so great, such as Jilly & George, Anthilia, Juxt Home & Baby or The Underwood Gallery.

The gift of good friends and family. Help us to remember that the special people in our lives are more important than anything that can be bought in a store. And since food, family and friends go together so well, maybe we'll think about visiting the new Enoteca, the tried and true Hector's or sharing a pizza from Balistreri's with those we love.

Oh and be careful when you visit our beautiful old Tosa homes. Some of those fireplaces get a good workout this time of year and that red suit might need an extra dry cleaning.

Thanks Santa!
Love,
Karen

Today I'm writing about something in Elm Grove. Yes, the swanky suburb just west of Tosa. Bear with me, it's worthwhile.

I had the opportunity today to visit the Christmas Fantasy House at 1505 Greenway Terrace in "the Grove." Let me tell you, this year's house will knock your socks off! The house, owned by Margie Clark Takton, of Clark Oil fame, is 24,000 square feet (yes, you read that correctly) of jaw-dropping wonder. The house was built in 2005 on land where Mrs. Takton's family formerly had a home. From top to bottom, it is nothing short of amazing. You truly have to see it to believe it. And the Christmas décor throughout the house is tasteful and spirited. It will inspire your holiday decorating this year and for many years to come.

The Christmas Fantasy House is an annual tradition that benefits the American Cancer Society. Every year since 1993, homeowners have opened up their homes to visitors to help raise funds to fight cancer, a disease that, unfortunately, affects so many of us in Tosa, Elm Grove and throughout the world.

If you're looking for something fun and worthwhile to do this weekend, go visit The Christmas Fantasy House. It'll knock your socks off, for a good cause! For further information, visit www.christmasfantasyhouse.com .

Since our brains are all fried from voting (nice turnout, Tosa!) and watching election results, here's something totally frivolous and fun. G'head and try it!

YOUR AGE BY RESTAURANT MATH

It takes less than a minute .
Work this out as you read ...
Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat. (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you HAVE already had your birthday this year add 1756.

If you HAVEN'T add 1755.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number of how many times you want to go out to a restaurant in a week.

The next two numbers are:

YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2006) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS!

I'm not going to sit here and tell you which way to vote. I'm also not going to tell you which way I'm voting. It's not why I'm here. I do, however, have the opportunity and the platform to tell you one very important thing: Just vote. People have given their lives so that we can freely go to the polls on November 7th and participate in democracy. The least we can do is make a small effort to exercise our rights. Whatever you're doing on Tuesday, make time to vote. If you don't know where to vote, click here and you can easily find out. See you at the polls!

This goes out to all the runners and joggers out there, or at least those of you that run at night: Please stay off the streets at night - literally. It's Daylight Savings Time and by 5:00 pm, Wauwatosa is dark and the streets are busy...with cars. But lately, while driving at "rush hour," I've had to deal with runners sharing the road with me. I'm telling you, it's dangerous. Sure, you're wearing your glowing, reflective apparel, but you're running dangerously close to traffic. Why, when we live in a community with abundant sidewalks, do you need to be on the street where drivers have to take a wide, and hazardous, berth to avoid you?

This is primarily a problem on Menomonee River Parkway on the stretch between 92nd Street and North Avenue where there are no sidewalks. Why can't you alter your route at dark and avoid this area? Amy Dedow has already shared her story of her husband's bike accident and that was during daylight hours. I worry that something similar will happen with a runner after dark. I hope I'm wrong.

I have to admit that my first reaction to the news that there was a "melee" at Mayfair Mall (after pausing in appreciation for the alliteration) was to ban my daughter from weekend movies. It must be bad, right, if it involved 250 people, pepper spray and stun guns? And I won't deny that it scares me, because as you know, I love my Mayfair Mall but the idea of staying away is just not an option for me. But what's the solution? Banning teens from Mayfair? Um, I don't think so.

Tosa city officials are already doing damage control, calling it a "one-time incident." We know that's not really true. Problems have occurred in the past, both large and small. Mayfair is probably the most popular mall in Milwaukee County, at least until Bayshore is up and running. And to quote my favorite movie, "If you build it, they will come." They being teens and it being a mall. Mayfair simply would not continue to thrive without the teens and their discretionary income.

So then what's the answer? How do we prevent our local theater and shopping center from being turned into a black hole of adolescent delinquency? Should the theater stagger movie showings when there are multiple films aimed at the teen demographic? Should there be a no-tolerance policy on loitering in the mall? Should mall security be stepped up to include constant police presence? I honestly don't have an answer, but let's start talking about it. What are your ideas? Let's begin a discussion before we have another incident and things get out of hand.

I know one thing-our neighborhoods have done a great job of taking back their streets. There's evidence that block watches and involved neighbors are effective barriers to crime. So perhaps we should consider Mayfair a neighborhood and make the tenants (the stores) part of the solution. I realize that they don't sleep there at night, but isn't their livelihood dependent upon whether the mall, the entire mall, is successful and safe? What do the mall, the stores, and the theater, think and what are they willing to do to make sure this doesn't happen again?

If you have thoughts on this topic, e-mail me at westsidestoriestosa@yahoo.com . I'd be happy to pass your comments on to city, police and mall officials.