Another Hanley in the news

Well, the Pulitzers were announced last week and Matt was tragically overlooked. Again.
But, there are other Hanleys in the news: Lynne was in the local paper for the work she did helping to organize a shoe drive at the high school!
Check out the story here. They didn't even misquote her.
So, she's not only a great mom and great wife, she's a pretty awesome person. But you already knew that, didn't you?

Pencils down!

OK, you've had enough time. A few people were looking for the answers to the wedding program puzzles. So here you go:
(Oh and, yes, Lynne made the dot-to-dot herself. She's amazing.)

ACROSS
1. Matt and Lynne's favorite sport is BASEBALL.
3. Lynne and Matt like to play GAMES, all sorts. (Get it? It's like the line from the Mary Poppins song.)
5. Matt finished the MARATHON seven times--all seven in Chicago.
7. Lynne studied at NCHS (Naperville Central High School) and now is a teacher there.
9. The party was at the HOLIDAY INN.
10. Lynne was born in WEST VA.
11. JACK is Lynne's yippy little buddy.
12. JOHNNY DEPP could have caused a Lynne-and-Matt break-up (Because Matt - not Lynne - is obsessed with Johnny).
14. A CANOE brought Lynne and Matt together.
15. Lynne teaches HISTORY (and Geography and Government).
17. Lynne prefers BROCCOLI to candy (Weird, right?).
20. Although Matt can never remember the name, he loves to order a DIP CONE from Dairy Queen. (He typically gives the Dairy Queen worker a confused look and asks if they have the "regular ice cream with the hard chocolate shell on it.")
22. Lynne collects CASTLES.
24. Lynne's alma mater is IWU (Illinois Wesleyan University).
26. Roman wedding date is XII (July 12).
27. Lynne and Matt joke that they'll name their first son STANLEY (try it out with Hanley as a last name--sounds great!)

DOWN
2. Matt is one of the BEACON's brightest lights (At least according to Lynne). The Beacon is the newspaper where Matt works as the crime reporter.
4. Leslie's word to describe Laura and Lynne is SISSIES.
5. MARY BETH introduced Lynne and Matt.
6. Matt saw the METS play a home game at Shea Stadium.
8. In high school, Alex, Mo and Matt ran CROSS COUNTRY.
13. PERU is a honeymoon hot spot.
16. ILL is the first half of Matt's favorite chant
18. Lynne's favorite ball player is Joe CREDE
19. The second half of Matt's favorite chant is INI!
21. Michael is Matt's COUSIN.
23. The best man in the room was ALEX (So why'd Lynne marry Matt?)
25. JULY is a hot month for a white wedding.

In other, non-wedding news

This is not an update on pink limos, or music selection, or flowers, or cake, or tastings, or dresses, or rings, or John Dillinger (bet you thought that would say Johnny Depp!) or Illini football.
This post is quite simply about good news.
The first piece of good news is that Lynne recently had her year-end review and to say it went well would be a massive understatement.
Quite frankly, the head of the department and the vice principal say she's a superstar. They love her style and demeanor and composure with the kids. This is no joke: they are going to videotape her and show it to new teachers as the right way to run a class. That's as big as compliments get.

Other good news, including some (very to only somewhat) belated congratulations:
Belated congratulations to Luke and Tracy, who got engaged and will be getting married this summer. Matt went to college with Luke and thinks he made a great choice. But you have to question Tracy's judgement, saying 'yes' to a Twins fan, don't you?

And very belated congratulations to Katelyn, for meeting her fantastic parents, Dave and Angela, and her brother 2-year-old Michael. Lynne and Matt finally got to meet Katelyn recently - what a fantastic little girl and great family.

And congratulations to Kevin and Angie, who are "with child," as the kids are saying. A fantastic couple who will make fantastic parents.

As long as we're talking babies, congratulations to Mark and Kate(s) who have a beautiful new baby girl, Phoebe Joanne.

And congratulations to the Mets for being so awesomely great.
As long as we're talking baseball, did you know Matt has another blog now? He's addicted. He kept it a secret because it. is. so. very. nerdy. But, if you're so inclined and love baseball cards, enjoy.

And congratulations to Lynne's sister, Laura, who got a fantastic internship at the prestigous Marco Island resort. Apparently, unlike many of her Western Illinois classmates, Laura had several offers for internships. It's not surprise a lot of people wanted to hang out with her - she's a blast. If it weren't for this pesky wedding Lynne and Matt would definitely be visiting.

More good news to share? Post it below!

Where (and who) is Lynne?

Well, you had a week. Did you guess what Lynne was for Halloween?

That's right, she was...no, not a jailbird. Not the Hamburglar. Lynne was Waldo!

At left, Lynne. At right, not Lynne?

And the winner is...Josh! congratulations Josh, you've won a brand new...fanny pack! Retail value; $19.95. All rights reserved. Prize is non-transferable.

Matt had some doubts that anyone knew who Waldo was anymore, but apparently kids out there are still looking for him. Good for them. Although, perhaps they need something better to do with their time. Matt suggests looking for someone a little more famous. Like him. Or her.

Anyhow, kids were yelling "I found you" to Lynne all day and it didn't even annoy her. And, shockingly, there was a second Waldo teaching at Naperville Central that day. That's what happens when your colors are red and white. You're the home of the Fighting Waldos.

One story from Halloween because it's too odd not to share. But a warning: it starts out sad. So, there's one NCHS student who has an allergy to latex. A severe, terrible allergy. Like the stuff can't even be in the air of the building or it's dangerous to the kid. (That's the sad part.) So, the deal with the students was they had to prove their costume had no latex in it, otherwise it wasn't allowed in.

Flash forward to second period and there's an announcement.

"Excuse me teachers, we've called some manufacturers to check on costumes. If you have the following costumes in your class please send them to the principal's office. Cow with udders. Yellow banana. Man with two heads. Again, would the cow with udders, yellow banana and man with two heads report to the principal's office."

Now, that's not an announcement you can hear too often.

Oh, and what was Matt for Halloween? Scroogy McNofun. No costume required.

OK, so Matt and Lynne promised an update on where the ceremony and reception are going to be. And so you shall have it. Matt will get some pictures this weekend and post them here. So check back soon.
And maybe they'll have a few other surprises. Or maybe not. (It's a surprise!)