Bad Feet

I have had bad feet all my adult life.
I had 2 surgeries on my feet and had joint replacement on my right foot back in 87. Ever since then I have never worn dressy shoes or sandals, and heels are out of the question. Tennis shoes are my feet's shoe of choice.
So after walking the golf course yesterday watching Jon in the Illinois Open my feet were screaming at me to go and get some new shoes.

I head over to Kohl's and start looking through the women's shoe and my eyes always gravitate to the same damn pair. (last 4 pairs I owned). My feet like the Nikes best!

I see my nephew Nate looking for some new tennis shoes too - his dogs chewed on his - and I like the looks of this one pair of Men's walking shoes. I'm thinking what the heck so I try them on. My feet loved them too so I bought them!

Will someone really notice if I'm wearing MEN'S shoes? I think not.

You be the judge!

Fire Bugs

Mike made BBQ chicken on the grill and we had our first taste of Klein's sweet corn of the summer. We made Mary a believer that Klein's corn is the best. Brian came over and hung out with Mike around the grill.

Mary and Bryan (after getting rain out on Friday night) made us a big fire and we shared stories and smores. Of course they will be back - Mary needs to learn how to NOT burn the marshmallows.


Our only excitement for the evening was the fire department was called to the lots behind our house again. Punks (Bryan's description) had set a fire to the docks on the small lake back there.

Role Reversals

When Andy called on Friday night and invited one of us to go golfing on Saturday I told him one of us will be there. Mike then knew that it would be me. It was only fair - he golfed on Friday.
Andy, his father Bill, Mary's brother Pat, were going to Poplar Creek in Schaumburg. It has been along time since I've golfed there - It was called Moon Lake last time I went.
I went golfing with the guys, drank some beer, and Mike stayed home, did yard work and cooked dinner.

My golfing foursome

Andy - He swung so fast I missed his back swing

Murphey - Mary's brother

My brother-in-law Bill who was celebrating his birthday with countless gimmie putts

And then there is me in "81 - Last time I played this course

Check out those golf carts - You had to lay your clubs down in them

One of Those Days

I've decided that there are 2 kinds of days when you are not working. The good kind when you actually have something to do- even if it's cleaning out the garage. Then you have the days with absolutely nothing to do.
Wednesday Mike and I found ourselves with nothing to do so we decided to jump in the car and head up to Evanston to see Bryan's place of employment and walk along the lakefront.

When we in SC and planning our trip home through the mountains Dave directed us through the town of Seneca. I was excited because I knew that was where sister Mary worked at the middle school and I wanted to see where she spend her days. Dave thought it was a strange request, but it made perfect sense to me and Mary. We didn't get to go by her school but I got to see the town.

Leapfrog Online (where Bryan works) is nothing liked I pictured it in my mind. I knew it was an old factory for Tinker Toys, but I pictured some big factory style building not this quaint ivy covered place in a residential neighborhood.


After spending the afternoon shopping at the biggest and baddest fabric store, (I'm so taking Sharen back with me), Vogue it was 4 stores in one, and taking a long walk along the lakefront and through the pricey neighborhoods of Evanston we met up with Bryan for a tour of the inside of his place after he got off of work. Now when I IM with Bryan I can picture him at his desk.


Bryan's Mary (not sister Mary) drove up from Chicago and we had a very nice BBQ dinner at Merle's.

Our nothing to do day turned out pretty good after all.

Mary and Dave

After dropping the Dupplers off at the airport we head to downtown Myrtle Beach for our ocean fix. (we were staying on a golf course).
The downtown was deserted and so depressing. The economy has certainly hit this ocean town. We had to do our shopping out on Highway 17 because my favorite shop downtown was boarded up.
Mike and I had no time table to be home so we decided to drive up to see my sister Mary and her husband Dave on our way home from Pawleys. They moved down to Salem, SC three years ago and this is our first opportunity to visit.

Mike, Me, Mary,Dave

We stopped at this Clemson bar to have a bite to eat.

They gave us the tour of the campus and then a boat ride on their beautiful lake.

I called their home the Tree House because it is up a hill with a winding drive into the trees.

I was so happy to finally see where my sister is living and that she fits. I know that we will be visiting them again soon.

Mike and I took the scenic ride home through the smokey mountains and was really glad that we had the time to do it. I could get used to vacations with no clocks. (unless for tee times of course)

Golf in South Carolina

Looks like this.....



And now picture me sitting in a golf cart with a beer in my hand!

This is why this is my favorite place to vacation. Of course being here with Mike and the Dups helps too.

Who wouldn't want to be me?

Greetings from Pawley's Island

Made it down to SC and picked up the Dups at the airport. I held up a sign to know that their ride was waiting. Both got a kick out of it.
Have 2 cool condos right next to each other on the 11 green and across the street from one of the pools.

Dup wanted to add something -
had dinner at 811 steak and pasta. it was awesome. great food and spirits. perfect way to wrap up our day golfing in the sunshine and beers by the pool.

He will never have a blog - it would take all day for him to type two thoughts.

He was right though we did have a beautiful day today and I took a ton of pictures to post later.
We got acquainted with the beverage cart lady and she with us. We found the sand bunkers, the pine trees, and the occasional water hazards, but it was fun to be out there and looking forward to the next few days golfing.

Road Trip

The papers been stopped.
The mail is on hold.
The grass is cut.
The house is clean.
The frig is minus anything that will smell or grow fuss.
The clubs are clean and packed.
The Ipod player is in the car.
The suntan lotion, sun glasses, sun screen, swim suits and after sun are all packed.
The beer and wine is in the car.
The bags are packed with play clothes.
The DVR is set to tape my shows.
The cooler is waiting for the snacks and ice for the trip.
The GPS is set for Pawley's Plantation in South Carolina.
All I'm waiting for is the morning.
Bye Y'all.

Landmarks

-This is the place where I would meet up with my boyfriend for lunch after skipping class my senior year.
-The place where his friend Paul would slip us free fries.
-The place where we would get 1 coke with 2 cups. (my first rum and coke)
-It was where Bryan ate his first french fry.
-The place where Mike and I would get together on Friday night with all the kids in tow before we were married.
And now it is nothing,but one wall! All the rest Gone!

The McDonalds on Larkin is now rubble..


So you see Cub fans, landmarks CAN be torn down and made better.

Another walk in the Park

** After seeing the Southwest commercial it reminded me of Sharen's and my favorite saying of the day - OH - IT'S ON!

Jon played in another Tourney today at a course that Sharen and I certainly would have never had the opportunity to see. We picked up Erica and drove to Winnetka.
I cannot believe that I forgot my camera - the things I saw that my camera did not is.

- a beautiful course with lots of huge trees, beautiful flowers, and narrow fairways with bent grass.

- a cutie golfer that Jon played with that was the twin for Paul Konerko. His name was John and he was the pro from the Chicago Golf Club. He was a good sport and didn't even mind when I called him Paulie.

- some great golf with 6 birdies from Jon. Woo Hoo - 6 birdies!

- two holes where Jon and his 2 playing partners ALL birdied. One a par 3 and the other a par 5.

- Jon tied for third. He shot a 70 and tied for third. Way fun to watch. Jon was tied for the lead with a 68 but boogied the last two holes.

He played some great golf and it was so much fun to see him doing so well again.

5 Years Later

When we packed up to move here I thought that I needed everything in them boxes. That was 5 years ago today.
As I descended down into the storage in the basement I could hear my sister Vicki's voice. "Really if you haven't used it or missed it in 5 years - do you really need it?" Those were her words when she moved out to Hampshire and was dealing with all the boxes in her basement on Devonshire.

So I had every intention to just take the boxes out to the curb and not open them. The ones that I had labeled Baseball cards, Bryan's toys, and Mom's dishes were definitely staying, but what about Misc. Hum....

I spent the afternoon looking at old pictures, Bryan's handy work from grade school, his collection of Garbage Pail Kids, my school report cards, class pictures and yearbooks. I found Bryan's "Alf" doll wearing the T-shirt that he wore in his 2 yr old picture.
I'm so glad that I opened them all and looked, because I realized that maybe Vicki was right I don't need them, but I do want them.
Bryan will be happy to know that the only thing that ended up at the curb was some old suitcases that were empty!