West Side Stories

It’s a banner day here in my household. Due to a family emergency, my husband was out of town during this weekend’s blizzard. Usually I resort to wielding a shovel or my handy Snow Scoop and resign myself to burning lots of calories. However, Mother Nature was extremely cruel to us and not only dumped a lot of white stuff, but she threw down the HEAVY stuff. Seriously, this snow has heart attack written all over it. And so I finally needed to learn to use our snowblower – a fate I’ve successfully avoided until today.

So, my friendly neighbor Bill came over and patiently guided me through Snowblowing 101. Not only that, but he pre-dug out some of the mountains of snow boulders that the snowplow had left behind and that my snowblower could not get through. I’m sure I looked ridiculous – me and my snowblower – but thanks to Bill, I got the job done and am giving myself a virtual pat on the back for learning a new skill.

Oh and shhhhh….keep it quiet. I don’t want my husband to think I’ll do this on a regular basis – wink, wink.

One question: Why is it never a “massive storm” until it hits the East Coast? I mean, sure they mentioned Milwaukee (only after Chicago, of course) but it seems obvious to me that if it doesn’t happen in New York City, it doesn’t really matter.
 
Oh and I’m still cry uncle…and aunt and every word in the book that can’t be spoken in mixed company. I’ve had enough of winter. Calgon, take me away.

I’ve put off writing this, because I’m one of those people that really tries not to complain about things that I can’t change. And this is definitely one of those things I can’t change, although trust me, I definitely would if I could.

OK, here it is: I’M SICK OF WINTER. Seriously, I’m not sure how much more I can take, although actually, I guess we’ll all find out because, like I said, there’s not a flippin’ thing I can do about it.

But because blogging is sometimes about venting my spleen a bit (sorry for the gross metaphor), I just needed to get this off my chest and every other part of my body.

The icy finger of winter has surely given us all that it’s got this year. In past years, I always welcomed spring with open arms. Although that whole melting-still-cold-dirty-streets thing isn’t the best. And if, like me, you own a long-haired dog, you might actually miss the cold, dry and frigid days when you don’t walk back in your house with a dripping canine mop.

Nevertheless, I miss being able to smell. I miss green. I miss wearing less than two layers of clothing. I miss being able to wear the same shoes inside as I do outside. I miss wanting to go for walks. I miss the outdoors, and if you know me, you’ll know that this is a landmark statement coming from an avowed pop culture addict and couch potato!

I know there are lots of you that are enjoying the winter. I’m happy for you, really, because I do believe that you’ve gotten shafted in the past few years. I hope you are skiing, snowmobiling, sledding and showshoeing to your hearts’ delight. I’m even glad that our kids got a couple of long-awaited snow/frigid days off of school.
 
But I’m ready. I’m ready for a change of seasons. I really do love every season, but I’ve pretty much wrung every last ounce of wintery fun out of this one and I’m quite anxious to move on. How about you?

This afternoon, I took my life in my hands and went to a movie…at Mayfair Mall…alone. I am writing to tell you that all went well and I am safe and snug back in my own home. Not once during this outing did I feel frightened, threatened or nervous about being at Mayfair by myself. Perhaps ignorance is bliss, but really, I was just fine.

I can’t help but note the irony in the fact that the movie that I saw today was The Queen, starring Helen Mirren. In the film, Queen Elizabeth seems bewildered by the swirl of attention in the days after the tragic death of Princess Diana. Maybe it’s just me, but I could see a parallel between the people in Britain pointing their anger over Diana’s untimely death at the queen and Wauwatosa residents wanting to blame Mayor Estness for the recent problems at Mayfair Mall. In both cases, citizens want to hear from their leader, even if it is just a statement acknowledging their concern.

For her part, Mayor Estness has said that the proposed policy change over at Mayfair was “another tool” for addressing behavioral problems and that she’ll have to see what the policy looks like when it is unveiled. I guess we’ll all have to adapt that wait and see attitude.

In the meantime, I would think that the most effective course of action would be to address our comments, concerns, anger, frustration and fear toward Mayfair Mall Management rather than the mayor. Some have chosen to use the Tosa Town Square here on www.wauwatosaNOW.com as the place to talk about this. There are some spirited discussions happening in the “Sound Off” forum.

But is Mayfair really listening? I, for one have e-mailed the mall twice through their website and have not heard back from them. They claim that the new policies have nothing to do with the recent events at the mall. If that’s true, and the new policy is a result of other incidents, then the question is: What took so long?

I suggest that if you’re concerned about Mayfair that you send a message, literally, to Stephen Smith, the mall’s general manager. His e-mail address is: stephen.smith@ggp.com. Maybe that will get his attention.
Oh, and by the way, the movie was great.

I finally did it. I loaded all of my blue bags into my car and took them to the recycling drop-off center at the Pick & Save on 70th and State. As you can see, I had quite a few. In fact, this is what 6 weeks of recycling from our house looks like. I know, I know, I could have been just throwing it away with the garbage, giving myself a free pass because our recycling center was not functional. But I couldn’t.
 
You see, I’ve been blogging about the blue bag blues and how many people didn’t realize that their blue bag efforts were for naught. (They still are for a while, people!) So it would have been hypocritical of me to toss it into the regular trash, right?. And so, I did what I tend to do in these situations. I procrastinated…for a long, long time. I piled the blue bags in my garage and waited until the motivation kicked in. It finally did today.

I guess what got me going was reading today’s News Times front page story about recycling coming back soon – hallelujah! But then I thought about burdening our garbage men with 6 weeks of recycling and decided they wouldn’t appreciate it. Since I was already in my workout clothes and the weather was cold enough that my car probably wouldn’t get too smelly, I figured it was today or never.

So I did it, and I have to tell you, I’m feeling really good about it. If you’re so inclined, it’s really easy. If you go to the Pick & Save site, there are gigantic dark green dumpsters in the northwest corner of the parking lot. You simply throw your recyclables in there. You don’t even have to use the blue bags – that’s just a habit for me. Go ahead, give it a try. You’ll feel good too. And I’m pretty sure that you won’t have nearly as much to unload as I did.

Maybe it’s the uber-cold weather making me cranky or the fact that my teenager and I have been together for 4 straight days, but I have to rant a bit about one of my traffic pet peeves. On the corner of Watertown Plank and Swan Boulevard, which isn’t really a corner so much as an on-off ramp to the freeway, there is a yield sign. This yield sign applies to all cars going from westbound Watertown Plank onto Swan Boulevard or Hwy 45 North.

I looked up the definition and in traffic-speak, yield means: “a driver gives the right-of-way to another driver or pedestrian.” Here’s my beef: Everyone ignores this sign, including the woman driving today at around 12:30 pm who blew through it as I was exiting Hwy 45 North onto Swan Boulevard. If you are reading this, you might remember me. I honked…loudly. I think in driver’s education they would call it an “angry blast.”

My point here is that the yield sign needs to be enhanced and drivers need to obey it. Today was especially important because the falling snow and frigid temperatures made road conditions slippery. Perhaps people have their minds on other things and don’t notice the sign. I’m just waiting for the day when something happens and I’m there to see it. I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.

What about you? Are there areas in Tosa where drivers are careless or negligent? E-mail me at westsidestoriestosa@yahoo.com.

Last night we had the pleasure of celebrating my husband’s birthday at one of Tosa’s nicest, but often overlooked restaurants – Bjonda. I have to tell you that rarely have I felt so special, so pampered and so well-fed during an evening out. Everything, from the New Orleans Old Fashioned in the Skylight Room, to the dinner entrees, to the adorable tuffets that allowed my daughter and me to rest our purses in style, was top-notch.

If you’ve never been to Bjonda, I highly recommend it. The décor is stylish, yet comfortable. The music that is piped throughout the restaurant felt contemporary without being pretentious and, best of all, we could have a comfortable conversation without having to shout across the table. Since middle age has cursed us with modest hearing loss, this really is a key ingredient to a nice evening out.

The servers at Bjonda were extremely attentive without being obnoxious. Never before has the phrase “Tosa Tap Water” sounded so elegant and inviting. I always smile when I’m given a black napkin to better match my outfit.

First and foremost, the food was excellent. The Crunch Salad is one of my all-time favorite items and I’m so glad to see it back on the menu as a regular. My daughter had a French-style filet, I had the Deconstructed Wellington and my husband had the Katsu Maki, which was panko crusted steak and tuna – an amazing combination.

Finishing off our meal was a treat aptly named Chocolate Bombe. Trust me, it’s worth every sinful bite and calorie.

Next time you’re looking for a nice place to celebrate or just dine out, try Bjonda. I really think you’ll enjoy it.