Every season in Michigan is beautiful. Can't say I ever got used to the cool summers but it sure beat the hot weather in other places we had lived. Don't think it ever got warm enough for me to swim but that was certainly fine. That first summer it was just Wally and I in our little house on Villa Street and what fun we had.
Being self employed I could fit work in around doing fun things with Wally. He was going to start middle school in September which was going to be the fourth school in four towns he went to in six years of classes. Luckily this time he would have friends he made the year before and perhaps was not quite so scary. We were both getting used to our new life and at times I wondered how much the divorce and the move to a new place bothered him. One day we were driving by the building where we had gone for the ill-fated marriage counseling and I heard "Things are really a lot better since the divorce". I can not remember how or even if I responded to that but it was something I was really glad to hear.
When school started he signed up for all the necessary classes and band. The saxophone was paid for and I had not even had to threaten to return it if he didn't practice. He actually played it all the time. Bowser had even taken to sitting right next to him singing (howling) while he played. It drove Wally crazy and there were times I had to get the dog away. I was glad he decided to stay in band. There was a slight problem in that saxophone playing sort of delayed homework a lot. He came home quite often with a Miss Malburg story consisting of nice things she had said or done. So I figured she was the inspiration for all the saxophone/dog howling that went on.
Wally's twelveth birthday rolled around in October and naturally he voted for another camping birthday. With his two best friends, Mike and David, we spent the weekend at a beautiful park as the trees began to turn gorgeous colors. Of course, Bowser went along but the boys slept in the tent and Bowser and I had the Bronco to sleep in. That was the same year that Wally decided he wanted to be Santa Claus for Halloween. My reaction was REALLY! There are no Santa suits for sale in October so off to the fabric store we went. I still wonder what people thought when Santa came to their door for treats.
In November Dennis got married. Good timing as you have to wait nine months in Michigan to remarry so he was right on track. His new wife, Ann, was the same lady he met at the divorce recovery group a year before. She had three children and a house so Wes would not have to live in an apartment anymore. He still was not speaking to me. When Wally would go to visit for the weekend she would put up a post-a-note above the toilet reminding him not to pee on the floor. Since Wally never did that it really hurt his feelings. We made a game of it by him stealing the note before he came home each time and we just lined them up in our bathroom. We had a pretty good collection before she ran out of note paper.
The sad part about the wedding was that Dennis's whole family came for the big event. They brought Wally home that evening after the wedding and just dropped him off. No hello or anything....just dropped him off and left. Actually I had not heard from any of them since I filed for the divorce but I had spent a lot of time and had a lot of fun with them over the course of twenty years. I guess I just expected too much. The other aspect of the wedding that I did find humorous was that a short while after the wedding I got papers from the Catholic Archdiocese that my marriage to Dennis was officially annulled. I found all this quite interesting as Dennis had never attended a church except for weddings and funerals in the twenty years we were married.
Bowser was growing and getting cuter everyday. Charles and I went to Traverse City one weekend when Wally was at his Dad's. I think Charles was the only person in history to sink a paddle boat far from the shore in Lake Michigan. We left Bowser at a swanky dog hotel for the weekend and when we went back to get him they suggested we never bring him back again unless we enrolled him in their dog training course for $400.00. No particulars about what he did to annoy them but I did not want Bowser to act like a person. He was a fun playful dog and that was what we wanted. Charles found a German Shepard class so he would learn to walk on a leash, sit and stay. Once again after two classes Bowser got kicked out for being too playful. Actually he was very well behaved at home and I told Charles he would probably not want to eat the expensive cheese Charles bought for him if we made him behave. No more obedience school for the Bowser.
The fall was beautiful and I am not sure I ever saw trees with such awesome color. Claire was busy picking $100.00 a roll wallpaper and her husband, Jim, was busy sanding floors so I knew I would be busy after the first of the year. Claire and I spent a lot of time having lunch and choosing things for the house. Probably more time having lunch than anything.
Wally , Charles and I were roller skating a couple times a week and I practiced ice skating some as auditions for the next ice show were the weekend of Thanksgiving. The week before the auditions Ron, the director, had me come by the arena and pick up the pencil sketch of the costume I was to be in charge of. I did not know whether to cry, leave the country or break my sewing machine when I looked at it and knew there was not a pattern in the world to use for it.
Then the first week of December I had a brilliant idea.
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