A Most Happy Thanksgiving Day!!!

It was a most wonderful Thanksgiving Day with my brother's family and a friend of my nephew's wife, Miho who we were very happy to welcome to our gathering. Carina is also from Japan and mom enjoyed talking to her.   

We started a full day of cooking on Wednesday by brining the turkey.  I then started the process to make a very special, rather unhealthy, downright decadent mochi rice (sticky rice) stuffing with lup chong, bacon, shiitake, cilantro, green and round onions.

I then cut the broccoli for broccoli casserole so I'd have more of a head start.  Art and I helped mom cut the gobo (burdock root) for her kinpira gobo.  We were exhausted by the end of the day and it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet.

Thanksgiving Day started with Art making his pumpkin pie.  I then got started on the bread stuffing and we prepared the turkey for roasting.  Mom took a good part of the day to make her "famous" macaroni salad.  I got the broccoli casserole ready so that it could go in as soon as the turkey was done.

My brother, Dennis brought the mashed potatoes, and I assigned him to make the gravy.  I'm really a klutz with gravy, and he is such a good cook.

Barry and Miho brought a scrumptious green salad and Carina brought white and red wines.  Mom had three glasses of white wine.  They were tiny glasses, but she did have three and loved it.

Before our meal, we did something we've never done before.  Usually I would ask one of my nephew to say a little Thanksgiving grace.  This time Art asked mom to recite a Buddhist sutra of thankfulness.  She was quite pleased to be asked to do it.  She is the daughter of a Buddhist priest, after all.  Still, I was amazed that she remembered the rather long prayer of thankfulness.

With all the food we prepared and the food that everyone brought, we had enough left overs to last all of us for a couple of days.

 We also had fun celebrating my nephew, Barry's birthday.  We'd all been too busy with work, studies and our travel to celebrate during his real birthday.

It was a truly wonderful Thanksgiving.  The only thing that would have made it more perfect was if my sister-in-law, Nancy could have been with us as well as my other nephew, Shawn and his family.... and of course... Tiffany, Ed and our granddaughter, KC.  If our son, Jon and his Sarah could have been with us, it would have been miraculous since he's still in Bangladesh.  However, just knowing everybody is happy and content this Thanksgiving is something we are more than grateful for.

I hope your day was equally wonderful....

Now on to Black Friday!

The Last Day

This trip has had an abundance of good fortune and coincidences.  Surprisingly, our son-in-law was going to be leaving on the same airline just 10 minutes ahead of us.  We would be able to catch a taxi ride with him to O'Hare Airport.

But the parting was even more difficult than I counted on.  Tiffany was crying and KC looked so wounded.

First of all, you have to understand how big an airport O'Hare is.

Somehow Ed's gate was B18 to St. Louis and ours was B17 to Hawaii.  We were able to wait together.

As we were passing through security check, I heard my name being called.  It was one of Tiffany's childhood friends.

The last time I'd seen Seetha, she and Tiffany were in high school.  Now she was leaving for Cincinnati on business.

Of all the many security checks at O'Hare it was amazing to bump into her in the same line.

Our eight and a half hour flight to Hawaii was uneventful.  I was misty eyed as we flew past the Chicago skyline.










And then, there it was!  Pearl Harbor below us and blue, sunny skies.

Mom was happy to see us again and had prepared a huge meal of Art's favorite Japanese stew, nishime.  It was good to  be home.

On this day of Thanksgiving, I would like to wish you all a most wonderful holiday with your families.  We'll be spending this special day with our family in Hawaii while thinking of our loved ones in Illinois, Washington, D.C. and Bangladesh.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!!! 
AND
Happy Chanukah to my Jewish friends!!!

A Good Bye Walk in the Woods

November 3rd, Sunday would be our last full day in Illinois.  KC was already showing the strain of knowing that we would be leaving.  Compounding that was the added pain that her dad would also be leaving on a business trip to St. Louis.  It was a double whammy and certainly not something we had planned on. 

When we woke up on Sunday morning we found orange signs all around the house that said, Bye bye with a sad face next to it.

Actually KC thought we were leaving that day.

When she found out we'd be there another day she was thrilled.

Since Tiffany had gone for a run with her friend Jane, we decided to go to the woods with our son-in-law, Ed and granddaughter, KC.  The fall colors were now alive in all its golden glory and we all had cameras!

I don't know for sure who took these photos.  If it's super clear and sparkling it would be Ed's photos with his new camera.

KC loved being outdoors and had even learned how to do videos with her camera.

The cold finally forced us home where we picked up Tiffany and went to lunch at their favorite Chinese restaurant, Chef Ping.

Oh yes!  It was absolutely wonderful!!!

As the day came to a close, we cleaned the bathroom we were using, packed up our clothes to store in the attic and checked our suitcases a final time.

We would be leaving in the morning and it was not going to be easy...

Storing Memories

All of a sudden there were only two more days left before we'd be returning to Hawaii.  There was a driving compulsion to have as much quality time as we could possibly fit into the time remaining.

Our first stop on November 2nd, Saturday was Home Depot for their kids workshop.

Although KC has gotten very good with the hammer and sand paper, I have to tell you Art is brave to hold those wooden dowels for her.

KC's Mayflower type ship was very beautifully done.

The next stop was the public library where they were having a kids craft experience to celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

KC had a wonderful time creating a diorama with Tiffany and coloring photos to learn about this Mexican holiday.

The next stop was the last farmers market of the year.  I couldn't believe we were doing three activities in one morning.


The warm Nutella chocolate crepes on this cold morning were wonderful.

Tiffany also picked up some tamales for us to have for lunch with Ed who waited patiently at home.

I made some teriyaki beef and chicken sticks for dinner with a salad and grilled vegetables.

Art and Tif went out to get a French silk pie from Baker's Square that I suggested Ed would love since it's his favorite pie.  I didn't have to tell them it was my favorite too.  I was really suggesting it for my favorite (if not only) son-in-law!

It was a very full, very wonderful, very memorable day.

Happy Halloween!

I'm so very thankful for your patience with me as I chronicle our trip to Illinois. It helps me to remember if I forget something.

October 31, 2013 Thursday was Halloween Day.

I remembered that Tif had bought me a Merrells shoe that I love at DSW a few years ago.

I'd gotten so many great  buys and poor Art had not yet found his perfect minimalist shoe that he wanted for tai chi.  Art wears a 9.5 EEEE so it's very hard to find his size much less the color and style he wanted.

Incredibly, the fairies of bargains must have been looking out for us on this trip.  There in the clearance rack was a Merrells minimalist shoe in his size!!!  Unbelievable!  It was an originally $110.94 down to $89.94 with a 40% discount.  On top of all that Tiffany had two $10 and one $5 discount coupons.  She figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if she could apply them to the purchase.  Would you believe they did?  The shoes cost $28.96!  With tax it was $31.57!!!   Totally blew me away.  Did I mention that my daughter has shopping down to a science?

In the afternoon Tif had agreed to do a fall art project with the class.

Halloween is no longer celebrated at their school so everything is just fall related.

Their teacher knew I taught 1st grade so she asked me to read a Halloween story to the class.  I guess books are OK.

That caught me by surprise, but I didn't embarrass my granddaughter, thank goodness!

Back at home the skies opened up to a downpour.

It did not dampen KC's Halloween excitement or her friend's.

They managed to trick or treat at EVERY house that had their lights on in the neighborhood and there were MANY!

Although we saw some fall colors there wasn't the profusion we saw last year when we came earlier in the season.

We saw this in the Chicago Tribune.  They reported that due to the weather the colors were happening later, but would last longer.

As we continued our trick or treating we noticed one house where the owner had left candy in a basket with a note admonishing to take just one.

The squirrel that raced up the roof was not following the rules.  There were candy wrappers strewn around the steps.

The neighbors were really in the Halloween spirit and it was fun to go trick or treating even if we did come back drenched despite the umbrellas and raincoats.  It didn't dampen the festive spirit for all the children that came to the house either.

I asked mom how many children came to our home in Hawaii.  She said just one.

Ah well, my nephews benefited from the left overs she gave them.  All in all, it was a very Happy Halloween!

Outlet Mall Bonanza!

October 29th, Tuesday was one of my favorite days.

We'd gone to the Pleasant Prairie Outlet Mall early in our trip and I'd bought a wireless bra from the Hanes Outlet and a light weight travel capri (50% off of $38.00) from North Face.  The corningware small casserole that mom liked to use was not on sale at that time, but they said it might go on sale at the end of the month.  When I'd brought the bra and capri home I realized that I should have bought another pair.  It's so hard to find capris that fit well at my size and are not way below my navel causing an abundance of muffin tops.

Since it was nearing the end of our trip, I called North Face to ask if they might still possibly have the capris in my size.  The person I spoke to said they'd had a very busy weekend and there were no more capris.  I called the Corningware outlet and she said the casserole dish was on sale for $19.99 which is still quite a bit better than the $28 we saw earlier.  I told Tiffany and Art we didn't have to go all the way up north just for the small casserole.  The cost of gas would outweigh any savings we might find.

They insisted on taking me all the way up there anyway.  We walked through the North Face store and sure enough it didn't appear to have any capris.  And then I saw a little rack and there they were!!!  I couldn't believe it!  It was exactly what I was looking for and in my size and still on sale for $18.99 and only two left!  There was another one hidden in a clearance rack in my size, but I left that behind for somebody else to enjoy.

We then went to Corningware, but the covered dish we wanted was not on sale.  The manager felt so sorry for us that she gave it to us for the price quoted, threw in the separate covers and gave us the senior discount as well.

Art looked everywhere for his minimalist shoes that he was hoping to find for tai chi, but couldn't find any.  Tiffany found some lovely bargains and we headed home in a jubilant mood.

I know both Tiffany and Art were feeling happy for me.

And I was very, very happy!

Birds Nest, Friends and Pumpkin Seeds

October 28th, Monday was another wonderful start to the week.

KC insisted her teacher wanted the bird's nest that was long vacated on the gingko tree in front of the house.  Her teacher did indeed have a project giving her first grade class the experience of working in teams to create a bird's nest.

We saw this in the classroom a few days later.

Lunch was with Bill and Sandra at the Walker Brothers Pancake House.  Sandra is an ordained minister and Bill was once a seminarian and now an anthropology professor.  And yet they both know more about Buddhism than we do.  Bill has been a dear friend since our children were  KC's age.  Sandra and I have so many health issues in common that it was wonderful to compare notes.

In the afternoon, we roasted the pumpkin seeds.  I did the less healthy version with butter and salt.  Art chose to make his tray with olive oil, oregano and I forget what else.  At first I wasn't that crazy about it, but eventually I got hooked and couldn't stop eating them.  I'll definitely make it again next year.  Do you have a good recipe for pumpkin seeds?

Remembering the Halloween Happiness

I know I should be thinking of Thanksgiving and I am.  I've already got my 20 pound turkey in the freezer.

However on... October 22nd, Sunday, our thoughts were on Halloween.

We were out the door at 7:45 for the 6K Trick or Treat Trot near Lake Michigan.  Kids would be running a quarter mile.  Although Art did get the t-shirt for the race because he'd registered before we came, he would not be running.  Tif's friend, Jane would be running with Tiffany.

We weren't sure if our six year old granddaughter, KC would balk at running by herself.  She'd done a couple of races before, but it was always with mom at her side encouraging her.

No problem.

She did great.

It was then time for Tif and Jane to run and KC could cheer them on.

KC was dressed as a princess (of course), Jane was dressed as Waldo (Where's Waldo) and Tiffany .... um... a witch fairy ballerina?

After the race, we drove home for Tif to shower and pick up our son-in-law who was resting after a very busy week of work with little sleep.

We drove to the mall where lots of booths and exhibits were set up for children.

KC got her face painted, learned about herbs and plants, trick or treated at stores, jumped around in the pumpkin balloon, got a free pumpkin, made a bird feeder, and did lots more activities.

After lunch Tiffany decided everybody should decorate the bushes with spider webs and little spiders.  I have to tell you that Art and I were amazed at the energy level of our daughter.

After dinner Tif and Ed showed us this pumpkin carving kit they'd bought the year before from Target.

The kit even contained a stencil.

The little carving tools really made cutting into the pumpkin a LOT easier than using a kitchen knife like we did when the kids were little.

Art decided to forgo the stencil and created his own design.  I wanted to try one just to see what it would be like.

Tif and Art had bought these HUGE, really GIGANTIC pumpkins for just $3.99 a piece at the veggie market.  They almost bought five, but it wouldn't fit in the car.


We saved the seeds to try roasting them.

Tif also had little electric lights that she put into the pumpkins so they would be perfect for trick or treaters to see.  The pumpkins were set out on Halloween because we knew the squirrels would be dining on them right away.

All in all, it was the perfect start to our Halloween season!

The First Frost and New Glasses from Costco

October 23, 2013 Wednesday

When I looked out the window on Wednesday, I was surprised to see frost all over the car.

It had been a long time since we'd had to scrape frost off a car.

We were happy to do the job before taking our granddaughter, KC to school.

Meanwhile Tiffany got ready for her training run.  I took these photos from the window inside the warm house.  Tif hopped around to keep warm while the GPS on her watch took time to lock onto a signal.  And then she was off!  It really made me realize just how much she was her father's daughter.

With KC at school and Tiffany finished with her run and a shower, we headed out to Costco to pick up my new glasses that had just come in.

I opted for trifocal instead of the progressive this time because I just couldn't find the middle sweet spot so I could see things an arm's length away.

When I was at the Hawaii Costco about two years ago, the optician said the glasses I chose were too large for my face, but didn't explain why.  I wanted large frames to screen out more of the sun's UV rays so that's what I got.

I did choose frames that were large again, but this time the Chicago optician explained that they take a measurement of my head and those two numbers at the end list the size of the appropriate frame.  I was measured a 51.  The frame I'd looked at was a too large 55.  The frame I chose in Hawaii was 53.

The optician explained that having the wrong frame size would make it more difficult to see things effectively.

I wonder why they don't just measure you to start off with and then have you select the glasses that are the right size.

Whatever the case, I now have the right size frames and I'm trying to get used to using glasses again.

 I have to say it was all an eye opening experience.

Learning About Teas at Adagio

Our daughter, Tiffany bought a Groupon for a tea experience at Adagio Teas.  She thought Art would especially enjoy it since he was trying to be healthier and not drink too much coffee.

"Besides that," laughed Tiffany, "It will be a bloggable experience for you!"

I thought there would be a lot of people at some kind of class learning about teas.  Instead, the lesson was for just the two of us.  We first walked around the store looking at the incredible selection of tea pots.  We have NEVER seen so many different kinds of teas from around the world.

We were told to select three teas to sample.

I chose chocolate chai because well....
I like chocolate and I like chai.

Art chose Dancong Aria and Sencha Premier.

The Dancong Aria is described on the Adagio website as being, "A rare tea from Phoenix Mountain in Guangdong province, China. Perfumy, orchid and almond. Smooth and refined texture with flavors of fresh apricot, peach pit and honey."

He chose the Sencha Premier because it was one of the most expensive teas in the store and he was curious to know how a costly tea would taste.

 We were told that all Japanese and Chinese teas come from the Camellia sinensis plant.  It is a flowering, evergreen bush.

Japanese teas are made by steaming the leaves and Chinese teas are pan fired.

It was pretty surprising to see the wide range of  teas there are available.

On the left side are the Japanese and Chinese teas.  I think somewhere in the middle is the mate from South America and on the right half somewhere is the rooibos of South Africa.

After tasting the teas, we found that my chocolate chai wasn't to our taste.  The ginger flavor in it was too biting.  The sencha tasted like any other green tea we've had, but the Dacong Aria was our favorite with it's smooth, mild flavor.

At the conclusion of our tea experience, we discovered that we would each be getting a personal tea pot.  They were really pretty and elegant.  We chose a white one for ourselves and a purple one for Tiffany that we knew KC would love looking at.  Purple is her favorite color too.

We also decided to get that tea maker on top where the tea is strained and made to flow through the bottom of the pot.  The store uses this for their demonstrations.  We've been using it since returning to Hawaii and like it.

All in all, we had a great time and learned a lot.  And as Tiffany said, "It was a bloggable experience!"

Frank Lloyd Wright 10K Race

October 20, 2013  Sunday

The day of the Oak Park Frank Lloyd Wright 10K Race arrived.

Poor Art had been looking forward to running the race with his daughter.

Unfortunately, the day we left for Chicago, Art took a stress test because of an arrhythmia in his heart that Kathy, our nurse practitioner had discovered.

She sent Art for further testing.  The cardiologist advised him not to run or do anything too strenuous until she could determine what the problem was.

Tiffany's friend Jane who ran the Chicago Marathon a week before agreed to run the race for him to keep Tiffany company.   Jane is a physician herself and understood the caution Art's doctors were advising.  These photos were taken prior to the race in the warmth of the high school.

With the race about to start we moved outside where Jane and Tif had their photos taken with Sparky who is the mascot of the Chicago Fire soccer team. 

Art was so very proud of his little girl, but I know a part of him really wished he could have been running alongside her.

Tiffany and Jane both had a great run.  The cool weather made the run easier for them.

After saying goodbye to Jane we drove home and met up with Tif's husband, Ed and our granddaughter.

Ed took us to one of their favorite Korean barbeque restaurants.

Ed did all the cooking which we appreciated, but what Art loves the most are the panchan (banchan?) which are little dishes of varied vegetables prepared in a multitude of imaginative ways.

Back at home, Ed gave me a nice little present of a giant chocolate "turtle".  The turtle is a caramel, chocolate, pecan concoction that is just too wonderful for words.  They were amazed that I took almost a week to eat it a little at a time.  The candy was a thank you for hemming his pants for him.  It was definitely my pleasure, of course.  He is a wonderful son-in-law and the best techie in the world.