A Leisurely Saturday

October 19, 2013  Saturday

We'd gone to the Outlet mall in Wisconsin on Friday and were thrilled with the buys we'd gotten, but Saturday was supposed to be more leisurely.

We thought.

Since the morning was so sunny we decided to go to the forest preserve to see some fall colors.  However, they just weren't very vibrant then.  A few trees made a lovely showing, but the colors were late this year.  We were disappointed that we might miss the display this year.

Although the woods were beautiful just the way they are, I couldn't resist playing with a photo on Photoshop.

The photo below was done with the oil painting effect.

After enjoying a bit of those fall colors our son-in-law, Ed took us to see Gravity at the IMAX 3D.

Since DJan of DJan-ity did warn us about the sound level, I plugged my ears with some tissue.

The movie was pretty darn amazing and I can see why it is a huge hit.  There were several times I found myself ducking when it appeared space debris was about to hit me.

In the afternoon, Ed and Tif went to see the musical, Once and had dinner in Chicago.

I hemmed some of Ed's pants and mended Art's jacket.

KC and I had fun on the computer.  I was rather shocked at how easily and fearlessly she worked on it.  Ed had put very strong parental locks on it so that 6 year old KC would only be able to see certain sites.  She's only allowed to use the computer on the weekends and is closely monitored.

Since KC can now read on her own, she wanted to read some books to me for her October school reading log.  By book #3, I was getting quite drowsy and Art snuck up and took this photo.

So much for a leisurely day.

Visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's Homes

October 17, 2013 Thursday

Thursday was a typically busy day for us.  We met our friends, Steve and Linda for breakfast in town.  Steve and Art worked together at the U.S. E.P.A. for many years.  We caught up on all the happenings since we saw them last year.

Tiffany then drove us to Oak Park to pick up race packets for the Frank Lloyd Wright 10K race that was to be held on the following Sunday.

Tiffany had signed up for herself and Art.  However, because of Art's possible heart difficulties, he decided to take the cardiologist's advice and sit this race out.  Tif was disappointed, but her friend, Jane agreed to run for him.

We then drove around Oak Park looking at all the houses Frank Lloyd Wright designed.

Many of the homes were quite beautiful and you could see details of the famous architect's style.  The runners would be passing many of these homes during their race.

After that we visited a Spice house and had lunch at Potbellies.

We got home with time to spare before we had to meet our granddaughter, KC at school and take her to her tap dancing lesson.  

 

That evening, Tiffany went out to dinner with Jane while we babysat KC.

Jane had sent gorgeous flowers to thank us for supporting her during her Chicago Marathon.

KC was getting really excited about Halloween so we helped her decorate the house to her satisfaction.

And that was Thursday!

My Pal Peggy

October 15, 2013

Gosh!  It was exactly a month ago that we were able to meet Peggy and Jim for lunch at Baker's Square.  They traveled to Chicago where Peggy could see her oncologist for her check up.  I'm happy to report that her leukemia is still in remission.  Both Peggy and Jim looked wonderful.

Peggy used to have a blog called Meggie's Musings until somehow Blogger locked her out of her own blog.

I met Peggy in 1976 when we both moved into the same neighborhood.  

She's the one who helped me learn to drive and took me to get my driver's license.  She is fearless as well as beautiful inside and out.

It broke my heart when they moved to California.

We haven't seen each other in two years, but it was like we'd never been apart.

Peggy and her husband have the most wonderfully loving and supportive marriage.  We always enjoy being with them.

They gave us this fabulous present.  It's a Table Topics set of 135 fun questions to use at parties for conversation starters.

You can bet I'll be setting it out this Thanksgiving.

And speaking of Thanksgiving, I'm sure thankful I had Peggy in my life to help and support me during those early years of adjusting to life in the Midwest.

Who's Taking Care of Mom? Everybody!

We always feel guilty that we don't live in Illinois anymore.  We would love to be there where we could help our daughter and son-in-law more as well as see our granddaughter.  However, when we're visiting for a month in Illinois we feel guilty that we're not with mom.


Photo sent via text message by my sister-in-law, Nancy

I called mom one day to ask how she was doing.  She talked about how my brother and his entire family had taken her out to celebrate her birthday.  She mentioned how Dennis had been calling her twice a day to check on her.  She said our neighbor always looked out for her every morning and if she didn't show her face by 7:30, Wini would knock on the door to make sure everything was all right.

On another day she said my childhood friend, Diane had stopped by with a surprise dinner for her.

On another call, mom said, "Oh no!  It was terrible this morning."

I was instantly worried and ready to call my brother.  "What happened?" I asked.

"I woke up at 4:30 and there was no water.  I didn't know what to do.  But then a little later, the neighbors told me the city was working on the water pipes and that we wouldn't have water until later in the day."  She informed me that four different neighbors along the street began carting over buckets of water for the toilet as well as drinking water bottles.  The city had set up a water truck to dispense water throughout the day.  We actually have (hurricane emergency) drinking water bottles in the house that she could have used, but this was nicer.

"You see?" she said.  "You don't have to worry."

I guess not. 

Chicago Marathon, Chicago Botanic Garden

October 13, 2013  Sunday

We were in Chicago last year for the Chicago Marathon and we managed to be here again to support Tiffany's friend, Jane.

KC was excited to see her "Auntie" Jane run.

We found this parking garage and was amazed to discover that we got the LAST parking space. 




We wondered what the security would be like after the Boston Marathon bombing.  Sure enough, there were LOTS of patrol cars showing the strong presence of Chicago's finest.

And then there she was!

"Auntie Jane" stopped to give KC a little hug, letting her know how much she appreciated KC's efforts with her "Go Auntie Jane" sign.

Over 40,000 runners competed in the race. 

This big dog seemed to be trying his best to read KC's sign.

He then jumped on KC.  Incredibly, she wasn't frightened.

With all the noise and pandemonium of the race, I'm surprised some people chose to bring their dogs into the crowd.

After the race, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed out to the Chicago Botanic Garden.  Since we all had cameras, KC wanted to take photos too.

 

Ed decided to try out his new camera at the garden.   The shots were all crisp and the colors were incredible.

KC loved having her daddy close by since he'd been gone on a business trip.

The top photo is of Autumn Crocus.  The bottom photo is of the bonsai display.  KC begged Art to let her use his camera.  I was nervous for him, but he taught her to keep the strap around her wrist so she wouldn't drop it.

 There were Canadian geese on that island.  We loved walking through the rose garden.

For some reason, we're always drawn to the water lilies.

Here KC is taking a photo of her father while he took a photo of her.

Below KC took a photo of Tiffany and Art.

Here are some photos from a 6 year old's perspective.

KC took a photo of a photo from Tiffany's iPhone of the Marathon.

What made KC happiest of all was when we got home and Ed gave her a spare older camera they had.  She was ecstatic and learned to navigate how to turn her camera on and off, view, delete a photo, force flash, etc.

Tiffany said Ed believes she should have the real thing to use instead of a toy because he feels if she wants to learn how to use a camera, she should have the opportunity to do so on the real thing.

If she breaks it, that would be a lesson too.  As it turned out, she treated her camera very carefully throughout our time in Chicago and LOVED taking photos at every opportunity.  She is learning quickly.  However, there are quite a few photos she took of me that I hope Tiffany will quietly (and quickly) delete.

A Little Girl Grown Up

My granddaughter is going to the same school her mother and uncle attended so many years ago.  It's where I spent a lot of time volunteering and later the school district where I taught for 19 years and then retired from.

I went with Tiffany to KC's first grade parent-teacher conference.  As we stood in the hallway where Scholastic paperbacks were being sold, Tiffany was greeted by many of the parents, teachers, and PTA parent organizers.  Nobody knew me, but they all knew Tiffany.  At first it was a little unnerving and surreal. 

There was a time I knew just about everybody.  Now they all knew my daughter instead.  A generation had gone by and a new one was in place.  As I watched Tiffany, there was a swell of pride.  She handled herself with friendliness and grace.  Here was the sweet little girl who shyly walked through the hallways decades ago, now grown up, confident, capable and well liked. 

It was quite a shining moment.

Saturday Anniversary Dinner

And then suddenly it was Saturday, October 12th!

A special outing on Saturdays is a walk to the bagel shop.  We used to bring the kids here when they were growing up and now here was Tif doing the same thing with KC.  The owner gave her a special treat to eat on the way home.

After breakfast Art and our son-in-law, Ed took KC to Lowes for a children's workshop.

Tiffany ran there so that she could get some training in for a race she'd be running soon.

Isn't this a great way for Lowes to insure a continuing generation of home Do-It-Yourselfers?

While they were enjoying this fun time together, I was at home preparing the marinade for teriyaki beef and chicken as well as vegetables.

Once they got back, we all worked to prepare the house for our annual Anniversary Dinner Party.  It was our turn this year and it was great having Tif and Ed's help with the preparation.  Ummm.... KC's also!  She made the name cards.

We've been celebrating our January wedding anniversaries together since 1981.  These are the friends who supported us through the years from the time we arrived in Chicago, helping us with our home renovation, kids' celebrations and accidents, etc.  Even though Art and I moved away to Hawaii, we have come back to continue the tradition each year.

Ed's new camera had just arrived that morning.  He used it to take the above anniversary photo.  We could not believe the incredible clarity of this little camera.  I have reduced this photo file to a fraction of the original size and it's still amazing.

I was ready to order this camera too, but it doesn't have a zoom lens.  You'd have to attach it.  It also needs a flash attachment.  Still... gosh... isn't it amazing?

THANK YOU to our Veterans for your brave and dedicated service to our country!!!

Chicago Marathon Expo and Teacher Get-Together

A couple of days flew by with shopping, school and KC's after school activities.  Suddenly it was Friday, October 11, 2013.  I'd been looking forward to this day because I'd be getting together with a group of very close teacher friends.

Tiffany and Art had their own special day.  They were working at the Chicago Marathon EXPO at McCormick Place in Chicago.  Tiffany had been asked to work there with Art to promote the Osaka Marathon. 

Art was worried about doing this since neither of them speak Japanese.  On the other hand, Art knows how to travel around Osaka and most people coming to their booth would probably be English speaking marathoners.

They came home with a lot of fun souvenirs.  Tiffany was given a lot of left over snack treats that she donated to KC's school.


We were all excited about the Chicago Marathon because several of Tiffany's good friends would be running in the race.

In the evening, my gorgeous friend, Gerri picked me up and took me to Carole's house for our teacher get-together.  I was so touched that everybody made a point of coming so I could see them.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone to take a photo of all of us so I had photos taken with me and without me.  It was a good thing I took extra shots because there were blinkers in the group.

I e-mailed the two photos to my wonderful brother and he combined them, then lightened and enhanced it so we could all be in one photo.  Isn't it amazing what Photoshop can do?

Back to Second Home in Illinois

Post written on October 15, 2013

Monday, October 7th was absolutely CRAZY!  Art had a doctor's appointment at Tripler Army Hospital in the early morning hours.  It was the only time available before we left.  One thing led to another and they wanted a few more tests... that afternoon.  The taxi was scheduled for 5:00! 

Art and I did some last minute pick-ups because we wanted to bring some mochi desserts with us to Chicago for our daughter and granddaughter.  I went home to do the final packing, etc.

Art went back to Tripler for a stress test.

He came home at 4:15, showered, ate dinner and we were off to the airport.

Talk about stress!

This was a view from the Honolulu airport.

After 8.5 hours on United with NO sleep because of a crying baby, we arrived on Tuesday at O'Hare International Airport.

We waited at baggage pick up for Tiffany to come and pick us up.



 It was fabulous seeing our daughter again. 

We were able to take a quick nap before it was time to pick up our granddaughter, KC from school.

I loved seeing her face light up when she spotted us and then running over for a hug.

We got to see KC take her ice skating lesson.  She was so fluid and confident on the ice.  I remember constantly falling when I tried it (many, many years ago).

Dinner was barbecued chicken from Hubs. Hubs is famous for their gyros.  We'll have to save that treat for another day.

Tiffany had held on to our  birthday gifts so KC could give them to us personally.  It was a great first day!  But gosh... we were tired.

Last Minute Dryer Problems

Post written on Sunday, October 6, 2013:

We're going to be leaving for Chicago tomorrow and like always... things go wrong at the last minute.

For one thing my stomach suddenly began giving me problems about 3 days ago.  I'm hoping it cures itself before we board the airplane tomorrow.  I then got severe shoulder pain.  I've tried Salonpas, electric shock treatments, Motrin.  What the heck!

Yesterday we noticed the lower gutters were coming  loose.  We had to take a trip to City Mill and Home Depot to find longer gutter nails which they didn't have so Art had to improvise and just put in more screws to secure it.

This morning I was doing some laundry when I felt hot air at my feet.  What the heck!  Mom usually does the laundry and we rarely use the dryer so I hadn't noticed anything before.  I called Art.

I suggested that it might have been the Maytag repair person who might have jiggled the vent loose.

Art and I pulled out the washer and he jumped to the back.  He found the dryer duct connection was still quite secure.

 Well... if the problem is not at the bottom, it must be in the duct tubing leading to the roof.  I pictured mom using the dryer and starting a fire.  She might be taking a nap and not know what was going on.  The house could burn down.  How do you clean out the duct work?

My stomach started churning.

Art went up to the roof where the hot air is supposed to vent.  He took off the vent cover which prevents small animals and birds from going in....












and found this huge wad of lint felt totally blocking the airway.



What  a relief!

Another problem fixed.  I'm hoping nothing else goes wrong before tomorrow afternoon.  If it happens after we board the plane, my poor brother will have to take care of it despite his  heavy work schedule.

OK... I have to go get some Pepto Bismol now.

POSTSCRIPT:  Actually, my stomach settled once we got to Illinois and my shoulder pain went away.  It was magical.