Weekend

This weekend was the big estate sale.
After our moving sale on Kate St. I swore to myself that I would never go through that again. One thing I did learn from that fiasco was to go on ebay if you didn't know a price and we did NOT put out the gold jewelry.
I helped carry stuff to the garage. I painted road signs. I even help price some things, but when it came down to people coming in and going through all Dar's stuff I just couldn't watch. So I used my birthday as an excuse and on Friday after getting some acupuncture I headed to the city to spend the afternoon with Bryan. We took the brown line downtown and had a couple beers at the Tilted Kilt.
When Bryan was in college I would go into the city to give him a ride home for the weekend we would always eat at the China Buffet so we got dinner there and of course we ate too much.

Saturday I took a bike ride with my twin and - I am kidding you not - going down Shady I got hit by a falling acorn. Sharen thought it was very funny and laughed real hard.

After the sale Kathy (Mike's sister), Bryan, and Brian went out to dinner with us to the Village Squire. It was Oktoberfest so I got the Schnitzel with dumplings and Bryan got the Sauerbraten with potato pancakes and of course both came with sauerkraut. We sampled each others and both were very good. The rest of the group ordered boring pork chops, fettuccine and a hamburger. I did get a free Mia Tia too.

I got so many cards with nice letters this year. I was overwhelmed with all the kind thinsg said. I will admit I did cry reading them. I cried the most when my Granddaughter gave me a card and told me it was caused she loved me. It played "You are my Sunshine". My favorite baby song.

Look Out Below

According to neighbors the acorns are supposed to be heavy every other year and so far that has been true the five years we have been living here. So with the downpour that we had last year I'm figuring that this year I was safe.
WTF
I have been hit this year
- sitting on the deck
- standing in the Yard
- sitting in the hot tub (I'm pretty sure this was a ricochet off the roof)
- even riding on the tractor mowing the lawn.
I had enough when one fell into my car through the sunroof and got me in the face driving down Shady.

Design to Sell

How do you dismantle a house and a home where you grew up, where you hid from life when it got to be too much, where you went to see Mom cause you were hurting, where your Mother spent her last 54 years?

You dive in and hope that she approves of the changes you are making. She loved the warmth of the carpet in her bathroom, but it really had to go. I'm sure she would approve of the tile Mike picked out.


You don't speak when you catch someone stopping her cleaning to look through some pictures she found in the bottom of her dresser. She also lets you go through all the recipes hoping to fine that one you really want (them damn brownies).

You spray her perfume in the air when you box up the clothes.

You try on all the sweaters hoping to fine one that fits you. You smile when you find one and can feel her hugs when you wear it.


You have three piles to decide on - 1 labeled Kathy, 1 labeled Mike and 1 labeled garage sale. The other 2 brothers don't want anything. I've filled 3 boxes with things that I know Kathy or her 2 daughters would want. - I just know it! (We will be renting a u-haul to get it all back to AZ when she goes home). All Mike wants is two copper plates that hung in her living room, so I have filled a box for him of things that remind me of his Mother.

You move furniture to the garage. You take pictures off the walls and dust the cob webs. You mow the lawn and pull the weeds. You clean and dust everything. You shampoo the carpets and go through bottles and bottles of Fabreeze and Carpet fresh trying to get the smell of 2 smokers living there out of everything.

You pack and clean and pack and clean and pack.

Monday the for sale sign goes up!

Jersey Boys

Everyone is telling us you HAVE to go see Jersey boys, so when my niece Carrie saw it and came home raving about it I got online and bought tickets to go see it for Mike's birthday.
Wednesday we hop on the train and head on down for the matinee. It was all they said and more. We both loved it!!!!
Mike had a hard time seeing it though. When we got out of the train station he switched his glasses to his sunglasses and stuck his regular ones in his jacket pocket (that he was carrying). Yup they fell out somewhere on the walk over. I do have to admit that Chicago has really clean streets downtown. We should know we walked about 6 blocks retracing our steps with our heads down looking.

We had plans with Bryan and Mary for dinner and decided on Harry Careys. We head on into the bar to wait. There was a camera from Comcast Sportnet laying on the bar and Mike jokes with Frankie (the bartender) about being on camera. Turns out that is just what happened. This guy is a weekly guest on the Chicago Tribune live show and he pours a customer a beer on the promo. Wed. it was MIKE! So cool.... I tried to tell him I planned it all for his birthday, but he wasn't buying it.

Our dinner was good too. I had the fettuccine with scallops and shrimp in champagne sauce - Hello I think that dish was made just for me. I had to talk Mike into getting the $43 steak and he said it was really good. It's a birthday celebration after all.

Bryan and Mary joined us on the walk back to the train station. Chicago's downtown is pretty quite after 8:00. We did pass some workers power washing the sidewalks in front of Andy's building. (now I know why they were so clean that afternoon).

A great birthday celebration.

Darlene

We met when I married her ex husband. We got to know and love each other when I became her daughter-in-law. (Don't ask )


She had a raspy cigarette voice, but her words were warm and comforting. Oh she could let you have it with her "damn it, Karen" and she didn't single me out it was damn it for everyone.

Every Wednesday Mike and I would have our lunch date and we would meet at JB's where Dar worked. She knew I loved raspberry tea and would make sure that there was some freshly brewed waiting for me.
I would usually order soup and salad and she always made sure that there was a soup that I liked. Minestrone was our favorite.

We shared a love for liver and onions - I turned her on to rutabaga and carrots and I will never eat a brownie again without thinking of her. On Christmas she always made a big pan of brownies and sent the leftovers home with me.

I never got to bowl with her, but I would of loved the chance I just know we would of drank a few cocktails and threw some strikes and laughed a lot. I did get the opportunity to golf with her a few times. She wasn't very good, but it wasn't about anything but having fun together and we did do that.

Mine and Mike's birthday are both in September and she would sometimes forget Mike's, but never mine. Never!

She was as stubborn as a mule and once she had her mind set, seriously there was NO changing it. Does anyone need a converter box? She was convinced that her cable TV needed one and bought it.

She welcomed me into her family and always told me - You love my son then I will love you. Simple as that! That sums up the Darlene that I knew and loved, she was always forgiving, always helping, and always willing.

I'm gonna miss her beyond belief.

Hall of Famer

With all the turmoil in my life right now watching my favorite player getting inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame tonight was a welcome relief.

Having him over for dinner is even better!!!

OK - I'll admit I did settle for a facsimile.

Shady makeover

After a few days of driving through fresh oil and around trucks and dealing with the smell and the noise - Shady got a face lift.


No pot holes for us.