One For The History Books

 So I am looking on Facebook - which I don't normally do - and I see on The What's Happening in Elgin page a post of History books about areas of Elgin. 

I click on the book about "The History of the 400 Block of Summit Street Elgin, Illinois" because OMG we lived on that street. I scroll down and start reading about the book and this is what I find.

Look close and you can see "Who served as a lieutenant in the Elgin Fire Department?"

Dad!!! My Dad served on the EFD when we lived on Summit. I jump on Amazon and order the book. lf this is about someone else then I was out the the $22 I spent, but if it's about Dad then we are in a History Book.

YES! They are talking about my family. 

Looks like the house was built in the 1880's. 

They bought the house May 1, 1947 for $3500 and had a house payment of $32.38 on a 12 year mortgage.

They sold the house Sept. 16 1963 for $9000. 

It tells of Dad birth, death, military service and the clubs in Elgin he was a member of. It tells more of Mom and her parents. I guess I forgot that Grandpa Budney was born in Poland when it was part of the Russian Empire and Grandma's maiden name was Sementokowski (Shorten to Smith). No wonder my Ancestry profile said 65% polish.

There is 4 whole pages of The Kolbergs who lived at 426 Summit Street.

Sad there was no mention of us kids. 😢

I haven't read the whole thing. Truth be told I hunted down 426 Summit St. first. I gotta find out about the White Sox player next. A lot of the book is just County Clerk mumble jumble, but I'm gonna dig thru it anyway and see how much more I don't remember.

This is one for the History Book.

Thanksgiving 2020

 

Happy Thanksgiving from us

We did not spend this Thanksgiving the way we wanted too. It was just me and Mike. We and our immediate family decided to each spend our day apart. Safe in our own homes with just the people who live there.

Did we want to have everybody over and hug and laugh and eat too much - of course we did.

But we also know personally just how awful this virus is. That someone you played "who can hold their breathe the longest" as a kid is now suffering to take a breath. That they are laying in a hospital bed watching for you and just seeing a nurse or Dr. because you can't visit. 

I know everybody has to live their lives the way they think is best. I know there are people who don't and won't wear masks - I feel bad for them. I'm not going to ask you to. But please, please know there are some who believe and hope and pray that just a simple face covering will save someone catching this serious vicious disease. 

And know that words hurt - Making fun of someone who is staying back from you and wearing a mask and refusing to shake your hand, high five or fist bump is doing so for a reason. We are not paranoid we are experiencing something we never hope you or anyone you love will ever go thru. 

 

This is What I Need

 Our old 1980's computer desk has taken up way too much space in my sewing room. We don't use the desktop computer anymore and the desk was just holding office stuff that I condensed down into 1 file cabinet and 2 small storage office bins.

I decided after climbing around and digging into bins, and hauling the bins up and down from the basement I needed to SEE all this beautiful color material that I got from my neighbor.  It was time for my sewing room to look like one. 

With the desk gone I got to drawing out exactly what I thought it should look like. I gave the design to Mike and after a short conservation and some input from him, he was convinced he could build exactly what I needed/wanted.

I had no doubt he could do it. And he didn't disappoint. It's exactly what I drew for him.

I thought it needed to be painted. reason 1 - I wanted more color and 2 The material would slide better on a painted surface. I chose a navy blue that looked more royal. It only took 2 people to say "Cubbie Blue" and I ordered some contact paper and white paint to hide some of it.

Storage Galore

I got 7 bins emptied. Still have room for the office stuff (printer, file boxes, file cabinet and my to be filed away box) and my TV. It's perfect.

Everything I need 

There is no mistaken who's room this is and what I do here. I love being in my retirement room.

Don't feel to sorry for Mike he has his space in the basement.

Control Burns

 We have a forest preserve at the end of our street. Every few years they do a control burn. Most of the time I just get to see the end results. It doesn't take much time to burn the small area.

This year Sharen caught the fire in action from her front yard and sent me a picture.

Fire view

By the time I got into my car and headed down there for a closer picture, this is what was left. Just a walking path of green grass threading thru acres of charred weeds. It's pretty impressive.

Field of burn

The weather was perfect for being outside so when I got back home I decided to get started on my winter clean up on the yard and have a control burn of my own. 

My control Burn

We are not allowed to burn leaves in our county, but I had plenty of scrap wood from cleaning out our wood pile. I decided to retire the old bags game and it found the pit too.

I will plead the fifth if asked if any leaves from the yard joined the crap wood. 😇

New Walkway and Lanscaping

 When we moved here in 2004 I wanted a front porch. The one that was here was a tiny cement slab that wouldn't even hold 3 people standing.

In the spring of 2005 Mike built us a front porch. Or did it become a deck when we took down the railings, anyway I enjoy sitting out there. 

What I didn't like was the downspout that ran over the worn out paver sidewalk that helped it sink and buckle.  It all got very slippery in the cold weather. The holly bushes I had planted were taking over. It was so ready for a change.

I called a few landscapers I found online. 2 never got back to me. 1 came and told me it was too small a job. 1 gave me an estimate of $10,000 (yup, he clearly was not interested). I gave up. Mike made one phone call to a landscaper he found on Home Advisor and he came out 2 days later. I told him just what I wanted and he emailed Mike 2 days later with an estimate and a start day.

Seriously thinking it all got done so fast because they would rather deal with a male than a female.

Sad and Old

The only job I had to do was to dig up all my tulips and daffodils. No small task.

I was just hoping I got them all

The workers showed up on a Wednesday and got busy digging the old walk up and digging a drench for the down spout. I was so excited. 

Day 1 completed

Both men (Miguel and Moses) were very friendly and polite and didn't mind me asking questions and telling them just what I wanted. It probably helped that I let them know I enjoyed their music and made them fresh coffee. They even brought lunch with them which I happily warmed up for them in the microwave.

No More Wet Sidewalk

We got some rain the next night and the buried down spout leaked. They got that fixed real quick and started on putting down the bricks. 

When I told the guy who was here for the estimate I told him I wanted Autumn red body with a bright red border - He said "OK?" like I didn't know exactly what I wanted. I almost said I'm a quilter I know what I'm talking about.

When they started laying out the walk I stood over them and told them just where I wanted it - moved 15 inches closer to the house so I and everybody that needs a little help doing stairs can use the post.

I noticed that the border bricks were not the bright red ones I ordered. Sure enough - wrong ones. Now I'm thinking OMG what if I was at work when they were doing this? it would of been wrong location and wrong color.

Heating the cracks for sand

When the boss man came and asked me how thing were going I told him I wanted to add some more boxwoods for around my flag pole. It looked really naked on the other side of the walk. He told me  o problem and the next day Miquel and Moses showed up to do the landscaping with 7 bushes. Just like that - no hassle - no problems.

Ta Da New Sidewalk

The boss came back for the final inspection and admitted that he wasn't sure on the pattern. I then told him I was a quilter and I like the ones with a bold border best. He asked me if he could take a picture of it for his website. HA, I said of course....

Now I just need to get those tulip and daffodil bulbs planted.

Sister Hugs

 My sister Mary is going to be heading to Chemo treatments soon. She lives in SC away from her sisters all here in IL.

I had heard from my neighbor that some people get cold during chemo treatments so I knew I had to get a quilt made and sent to her right away.

I've been making quite a few quilts lately. I needed something to do during this stay at home stuff and quilting relaxes me.

 I really get fired up when I have a reason for my quilting. Making one for Mary was emotional for me. I bought my longarm machine with Mom's money. I thank her and talk with her and tell her how much fun I'm having, every time I use it. Doing this quilt I not only thought of Mom but all of my sisters and how close we all were growing up. It only made sense that they be a part of this too.

I sent a group text to Vicki, Deanna, Linda and Sharen and told them my idea and they ALL wanted to do it with me. I hurry and finished the quilt and invited the sisters over so I could take a picture of each of them hugging the quilt and filling it up with love for Mary.

Vicki

Linda

Deanna

Sharen

Me

I asked them to write something to Mary. Something that she can read to help her get thru this. So she's knows that even though she is physically far away she is right here in our hearts, our thoughts and in our prayers. I want her to wrap herself up in this quilt and feel our love.

Well mission accomplished, I got a heartful thank You text from Mary - she was too emotional to try and talk, which I totally understand. She feels us. She promised to take the quilt and our cards and letters with her. 

Mary, I know you read this blog and probably are trying real hard not to cry again - Sorry I had to tell this story. I cried writing it.

We are family - I got all my sisters in me!!!

Furnace and Air

 A chipmunk got into our furnace thru the exhaust pipe on the outside of our house, about 5 years ago. Our friend, Vince came over took it all apart and found the bugger wrapped around the blower motor. The furnace has not run the same since. It was loud and wouldn't run right. I hated it and hated complaining about it even more. I'm sure Mike was tired of me too.

I ran into Vince at his son's graduation party this summer (His son is one of Logan's good friends) and asked if he knew anyone who did side jobs. He was slightly insulted and said he would take care of me.

We made a date to get it replaced after his summer rush was over.

Well, I got me a new furnace and air this weekend. Logan has been working with Vince for a few months now and came along to help.

The old furnace was over sized for the house and had a cracked heat exchanger. I'm so glad we "know someone" to take care of this for us. He got me a deluxe filter and a house humidifier too. 

While Vince was doing the inside stuff, Logan worked on the air conditioning unit outside. He's been doing this job a few months now and seemed to me to know that part of the job.

He doesn't get to work with Vince too much on the job, but he gets what he knows how to do done, and asks questions when he's not quiet sure and Vince was very patient and taught him the way. It was interesting to watch.

I went thru ComEd and got a new WiFi thermostat that Logan also installed. 

Now all we need is a cold day to try this sucker out. I can't wait to have a semi dust free house and a night that I won't wake up with the noise of the furnace turning on.

Maybe next summer I will think about using the new air conditioner. Maybe!

PGA Champion

 

I enjoy watching Jon play golf - always have. When I found out that he was going to play in a PGA tournament at his home course I wanted to watch. It's 10 minutes from home.

First match was Wednesday Afternoon. I had to go by myself cause Sharen was up fishing in Wisconsin. I go out to the club just in time for tee off at noon.

Now this was match play. just 2 golfers going up against each other on each hole, beat the other on that hole and earn a point. Both were riding in their own cart. After the first hole It was very clear that I was not going to walk and keep up. Jon was being followed by 8 carts with men from the club who had played that morning and stuck around to watch. He asked one of the members riding alone if I could ride with him. He was very nice and said Yes. Turns out Andy played softball against Mike years ago in South Elgin. We got along very well. 

Jon played good enough to win at hole #15, but it was not his best showing.  He moves on to the next round Thursday Morning. 16 players of 64 left. Shot of the day. Put it on and 1 putted.

Thursday morning 8am. Mike had left me a cart so I could ride by myself. There were signs of the old competitive Jon. A couple birdies an eagle - I was having so much fun watching him win again. He beat Cameron on hole #16. Mike finished work and joined me for the afternoon match where Jon beat Jeff. It took all 18 to get the job done.

Maybe Jeff was a little intimidated with the crowd in the afternoon following Jon. When the men watch they clap on great shots and then move on. That afternoon he had the "Tiger Effect" the ladies league showed up and were not shy on cheering for Jon. He had one mishap. Drove left in the other fairway - Hit a tree - Hit the cart path and ended up in the flower bed around the halfway house. He got a free drop from there (below) and stuck it on the green. 

Mike asked Jon if there was anything that needed fixing on the course (which was in awesome shape). He told Mike (laughing) to cut the left ruff on 5. Mike wasn't sure if that was illegal or not, but you can bet that was the first place he headed at 5 am Friday morning.

Sharen and Dup drove home a day early for the final four match on Friday morning. This time Mike joined me for that round too. It was very clear to see that Jon was in a zone and answered all the holes lost. with one he won. It took all 18 to get the win. 

OMG Jon was in the championship match against the guy who won this tournament the last 2 years. 

I don't think I have ever seen Jon hit the ball so well as he did the last round. He won the first 2 holes and never let up. I knew when he hit the green on the 203 yard par 3 4th hole he was feeling it. He missed the first 4 rounds. He hit fairways and greens and when it counted he made the putt. He was not going to let this guy win - Not in his backyard.

Jon made an eagle on 14 and the fight was fading in Garrett the reigning champ. Jon won on the 16th hole and the tourney. 

The green was surrounded with Jon fans. Men who have played with Jon. Ladies who have taken lessons from him, a kid who was in the Jr. program who begged his Mother to call him in sick from school to watch Jon. The workers came out after mowing and raking and blowing leaves since 5 am. The kitchen staff showed up with champagne. 

 These are the people that Jon works hard and long hours for. It was very apparent they appreciate him and support him. And were proud of him. And Jon acknowledge all of them.

But there wasn't anyone more proud than his Mom and Dad, Who have supported Jon in his golf journey from day 1. OK, I was pretty proud too.

Erica and his kids got there for the trophy presentation. The family that gives his life meaning.

I have seen Jon hoist some trophies during his HS playing days. Individual wins and team wins. I was there when he got the City of Elgin tournament trophy. I even have a first place one from a tournament that I played with him. 

Man, this was the sweetest and largest one!

This was against professional Golfers. Men who's job is GOLF. 

Jon is a Professional Golfer who won a Major Tournament.

That's a big deal!!!!!!!

LitterBug!?

 As I turned down Hopps heading home from the grocery store, Mike and I both noticed trash coming from the passenger car window in front of us. 

I yelled at them because it was a sizable amount. Mike shouts "That looks like Money!"

I pulled over to the side of the road and sure enough it was money. There was a wallet there too. Mike and I gather up all the money and the wallet. As any woman knows - and most men should - you do not go into a women's purse. So, I was really hesitant to go into this guys wallet.

We needed to see where this guy lived so we looked at his license.  His address was just around the corner from us and we head on over to return his stuff. There was a lot of money in there.

Nobody was home... Now what?

We decided to knock on the neighbors house and leave the wallet with them. We went back to the wallet owners house and left him a note where to get it. Hoping he had honest neighbors and didn't take any money out of it. There was a lot of money in there.

You really have no idea what you would do in a circumstance like this. After the fact maybe I should of dropped Mike off and followed the car. We had no idea if they were going home right away or if they were from out of town. 

Do they like their neighbors and get along with them?

Are the neighbors honest- will they take some money and blame it on us?

Were they having a fight and his wife threw the wallet out the window on purpose?

We didn't leave our names, and they have no idea who the good guys were, but that's part of helping someone. We were put there at that time for a reason and I'm sure that guy was glad we were.

Tickets Never Used

 Today is one of those days that everybody old enough will remember where they were when IT happened.

I was working at the paper where there is a TV on in the news room 24/7. An announcement came over the intercom about the first plane hitting the tower. A lot of speculation it was an accident - until we all stood around the newsroom TV and watched the second plane heading for the second tower.

Why is this happening and how do you cover the news on something so enormous?

I headed on down to my desk in Advertising - I didn't want to get in the way upstairs. Reporters had their hands full.

My first thought was to call Bryan. I'm pretty sure he would still be asleep or not know so I wanted to warn him not to get on any public transportation. He was living in Chicago then and who knows if they were targeting other large cities too.   

Then I called Mike - He had already seen the news. "I guess your Birthday Present is no good?" Yes, Today is Mike's birthday. 9/11!

I had gotten him (notice I said gotten and not purchased - they were given to me) tickets to the Cubs game on that Sept. day.

Him and 3 buddies were going to make a day of it. 

Well that didn't happen. Mike and I spent the evening probably like most people glued to the TV and trying hard to figure out what is happening.

New Deck

As I sit on the front deck and watch our neighbors' houses getting painted I'm thinking our front deck could use a coat of paint. I was impressed that they came over and asked what color I thought they should paint. They claimed we were the ones having to look at it. I told them to get away from the cream and go with a darker color - match the darker bricks in the lower half. That's exactly what they did.
I did not want to paint our deck again. I'm thinking it's time to get a maintenance free deck. Mike was up to the task so off to Menards we go. We were lucky to find what we wanted in stock. Turns out there are a lot of people out there doing landscaping.
Dylan was more than happy to help us out. He was a huge help in getting the old decking off.

Dylan hard at work

 It really went pretty smooth. Dylan got the top ripped off and they went right into screwing down the new composite decking.

Dueling Drills

Mike must of planned this deck the right way when he first built it, because the lower deck was exactly 12 feet the size of the boarding so no measuring and cutting.
Just ripping up the old and screwing down the new.

Team work at it's best

I told the boys to throw the old decking under the new deck. Not sure if that's right, but saves us the hassle of getting rid of them.

Lower level is fitted

There was a spot where the frame was rotting and Mike had to take a trip to the store and do some repair work, but nothing he couldn't handle.
The next day he put up the cladding. (I had no idea what it was either) It's the boards going around the sides.

New deck

We now have a safe place to sit and wav at the walkers. For living at a dead end street with no sidewalks, we have a bunch of walkers.

Down Tree

When your only opportunity of getting out is to sit on the front deck and wave at the walkers passing by, you notice things. I see that the crab apple tree along the driveway is past it's prime and needs to be put down.

The neighbors were having their trees trimmed out by our tree guy, Lucio. When they were just finishing up I went over and asked him how much to cut down our tree. He told me $150 if they did it right then and there or $200 if they had to come back. He told me it would only take them 15 minutes. I said go for it, but I was going to time him.

First Branch went down in 3 minutes

Tree fell at the 8 minute mark

Notice there were 6 guys there for a quick clean up

Gone in 17 minutes

I gave him $10 for the overtime. Thing was I only had $20's, but he didn't know that.

He blamed the extra time on the neighbor - They wanted the wood from the trunk for splitting.

Hello Again - Documenting Things

I keep trying to give this blog up.
Does anybody actually read me and do they care if I keep doing it?
The one thing I'm sure of it keeps mine (and Mike's)  memory accountable.
Somethings it seems like things happened yesterday and then some things so long ago we really can't remember if it happen at all. But if it happen since 2005, this is our go too place to remember.
So I'm gonna try and document our happenings. This is gonna be our family "Google".
Can't remember - Look it up on "turning The Pages"

With all that said I cannot let Mike's knee replacement surgery go without it's own post.
On June 9th he had his left knee replaced. The plan was to get it done in March, but that damn virus pushed it back.
He's been wanting this for a few years now. His knees were hurting him for awhile and it was time.

He trusted Dr. Mox with his previous knee and shoulder surgeries, so it  only made since for him to choose him to give him some relief with a new knee.

Mike was a rock star. I guess if you want something bad enough you look past the walker, the cane, bathtub stool, the therapy, the helplessness and the pain.

Front View

Side View

He had a awesome therapist come in during his first weeks at home.
Her name was Mia and she pushed him (which if you know Mike at all, he loved it).

Mia and Mike working together

He still has to go to PT twice a week, but hopes to finish real soon. His bending of the knee is spot on, but the extension needs some help.
So, just this week he got his torture brace. He's been using this thing 3 times a day. It has a crank on top that he turns to push his knee straight.

Crank It!!

The good news is he is back to work. He was so happy to be able to get on his tractor and worry about the long grass instead of his knee. He needed to go do something normal. I did notice a different Mike on work days.

He sees Dr. Mox for a final checkup next week AND to schedule his right knee. We are crossing our fingers for a October or November date.
He needs to get it done for golf next summer. He missed swinging a club and playing with his Thursday group of friends.

Bowlway

Time to say Goodbye..

I loved going here.

This place has so many great memories.

I bowled in the Thursday Night Ladies league here for 22 years.

I bowled in a Sunday league with Dad and Sharen and Dup for a few years. 

Mike and I bowled in a Saturday night league.

I made so many great friends here.

Team High 5

Stayed late and drank too much.

Sang some pretty awful Karaoke.

Dixie Chicks??

Celebrated Engagements (Sharen and Dup's).

We had this great party for Bobby Richardson's birthday one year. I ran around taking all kind of pictures and then I realized I had no film (Yes, it was WAY back then). I asked Bobby if he would ever forget this party He said. "No". I told him "Good, because I didn't have film in my camera." he never let me forget that.

I first met Mike in the bar here. It was a Saturday and I was hanging out watching golf on TV.

He had just come from spending the night at a temporary shelter that he set up for the families who were misplaced from the flooding in the south of Elgin. He came in to see his Dad and have a Pepsi and unwind before heading home.

Mike first suggested that we get married one Sunday night siting in the bar after bowling. I needed surgery on my foot and was putting it off because I had crappy insurance. 

He offered to marry me for his insurance. We all know how great that turned out.

It had just 16 lanes

I missed the place when I quit. I missed the people. I missed the noise. I missed the unique smell that a bowling alley has.

I gonna miss Bowlway!

It was such a great place to be.....

3 Very Important Women in My life Turn 40

I've been gone for awhile.
My reason have been personal.
Did my readers really care that I've finished 6 quilt tops, 7 puzzles, and 8 books. Thank God the library is open again. (Those darn paperbacks are hard to read - I want my large print) Probably not. Though I do have to say some of the quilts are my best yet.
I did skip posting about Logan's graduation. 50 years after mine. I feel bad about that one.
We have 7 immediate family birthdays in May. Happy Birthday to Kathy, Keith, Jack, Kaylyn, Stacy, Brian and Mary.
I get angry with people who don't take this virus seriously, so I don't say anything and just do what is best for me and Mike. Sometimes that is saying No and sometimes just leaving when I feel uncomfortable.
I am related to someone who was hospitalized with Covid and survived, so I know how bad this shit is.

One thing I must do is tell you about 3 very important young ladies that all turned 40 within the last few weeks.
My amazing step daughter, Stacy's birthday was May 19. She turned 40.

 

Stacy and her kid. 

Stacy was 3 when I joined her family. She wasn't to thrilled about me being with her Daddy when she couldn't. We finally got there and now we are close. I know she loves me, I can feel it and I love her. Her kids call me Grandma and I proudly claim them as mine.

My beautiful Daughter-in-law, Mary, turned the big 40 on May 30.

Mary was the only girl that Bryan ever brought home to meet us. I knew right then that she was someone very special. Bryan loved her and soon I saw why. I love her too. She goes out of her way to let me know when things are happening in the Flory house and I really appreciate her for that.

My special Niece, Carrie turned 40 on June 4th.

Carrie and her kids

I knew that we would have a bond the first time I held her. The day we got tattoos together (her 18th birthday) I knew that I would do anything for her. Come on Tattoo? She (and Sharen) share the twins with me and that means everything to me.

There were no parties for any of them. I made sure I saw each one of them on their birthday. I really had to let them know just how much their love for me means, and my unwavering love for them will always be there.

So Happy Birthday sweet lovely ladies.

50 Years Ago - June 5th, 1970

It was a HOT evening. It rained and stormed all day.
The rain stopped just in time for us to line up outside the High School in alphabetical order to march into the Gym to get our diplomas.

The gym was split half the seniors on one side, half on the other. Sharen and I lucked out. We got to walk in together and were the last two in on the left side, which meant we were the first ones out. It was so hot...

Most of us were headed on to college. Some were just happy to get thru High School. Me I already had a job lined up.
With a few days left of school and a couple days after I got suspended for skipping class I got called down to the principals office. I'm thinking they must of found out that I didn't actually leave school that day, but spent the day playing cards in the Sr. lounge. (That way I could tell Mom and Dad that I DID go to school.)
No, Mr. Alexander, the principle, offered me a job.
They were looking for a scheduler and I was recommended for it. I still to this day do not know who recommended me. I asked - no one would say.
Of course, I took it.
That was back in the day when everything was done by hand with IBM cards.
I spent 3 months pulling cards and building class schedules for kids that I went to school with.
Yes, I did think about putting kids I didn't like with crappy classes. I was 17!
I loved the job. I loved the work. I love the people I worked for and with. (Sharen was hired a couple weeks after me as the Guidance Office secretary)  didn't have any problem going from student to employee.

Our tassels

My grandson, Logan, graduated this year. I have no words of wisdom for him. I just told him to think about the choices he's given and make the choice that feels right for him at that time.

Wow... 50 years ago!!!