The Wisconsin Martins

Our wedding was very cool. A DVD will be out soon.

Joseph Martin

Joe’s Wish List

Christine Martin

We went shopping for holiday supplies today. We couldn’t find a good (artificial) Christmas tree in the stores, so we ordered one from Sears online. Hopefully it will show up soon. We also bought a pair of mittens for Christine, headphones for me (to shut out some of the background noise at work), and ate dinner at Old Chicago’s (which is an excellent sit-down pizza joint).

We stopped in at Goodwill, looking for a nativity scene. We didn’t find one, but I was able to pick up some cheap books: Second Foundation (Isaac Asimov), God Emperor of Dune (Frank Herbert), and Heretics of Dune (Frank Herbert).

We’ve had a hard time finding a good nativity scene. Most of what we can find (which isn’t much) is either ugly, expensive, or both. It won’t quite be Christmas without a good nativity scene. Even though Christine received a small brass set as a bridal shower gift, it’s not quite the same for her as the one she grew up with. Still, it will be a good set until we find a bigger one to display. We’re also short on ornaments and regular decorations. I know my mom left a lot of decorations in Norfolk. I’m hoping to plunder them when I visit during the summer.

It snowed the entire time we were out. I had to brush the car clean every time we left a store. It’s not that difficult, but I’m still getting used to it — and to the below 20’s temperatures.

My friend Tim flew in from Pittsburgh yesterday. I recommended him for a job at Epic Systems and they decided to bring him up for an on-site interview. Teri and I have been giving him plenty of advice and help to help him get through the entire application process. Last night was our big chance to shine.

Christine and I picked him up from his downtown hotel around 9pm. We gave him a tour of our apartment, then took him over to Teri’s apartment. Between the two of us, he was able to see the South side of Madison and the West side. He was able to see the difference between apartments in different price ranges and different parts of the city. If he is hired at Epic, he’ll have a better idea of living conditions than Teri and I did. We also talked some shop and tried to give him an idea of what working at Epic would be like (assuming he’s hired as either Technical Services or Research & Development).

It was good to see a friend from Pittsburgh. Now it’s time to bring some more talent up north.