A Great "Wii"kend

When J & J moved out they bought us a Wii for the rent free months they lived in our basement. Then for my birthday they bought me a Wii carrying case that looks exactly like a bag for a bowling ball and is ironically made by Brunswick. We spent a good portion of the weekend playing Wii, that is when we weren't on the lake. If you've never played before, you should. Talk about fun for the whole family. My favorite games are bowling, golf and Rayman. I rock the most at golf. No one has beaten me yet. I am the golf master. Bowling is fun too but Rick kicks my ass every single time. Rayman just works me up. You have to shoot these rabbits that are coming at you and my heart starts pumping so fast that someday I will keel over playing that game. But the new Rayman 2 has other rabbit games aside from shooting and I have to say I could easily turn into a teenager with the Wii. No wonder the kids can play these video games night and day. They are very addictive. Lauren is very good at all the games, a prerequisite for college, I've learned.

It was so great to spend time with the kids. Not too often we are all together in one place. And with J & J now expecting what we have affectionately named "baby Wyatt" (which has morphed into so many names but our favorite being Wynotta!) made it even more special. Great to see Marc and Ashley too. Someday we will actually go to New Orleans to visit them. Definitely for Marc's graduation from Tulane law school next year. We are so proud of him. And he probably won't like that I'm blogging about this but in two weeks he turns 30. Tough duty to be 30 and be in law school full time.

Rick caught us lots of catfish that we ate on two different occasions and lost his glasses in the lake while cleaning the catfish on the dock. Lauren even tried some and liked it. Crazy, I know. I didn't catch shit. Just one sheep's head or something like that that nobody wants to eat. But it was a decent sized fish nonetheless. To view all the pictures from our week at the lake click here.

Every Picture Tells A Story

For some the story is easy to decipher. For Rick, not so easy. After being presented with this t-shirt by J & J he turned to me and said "Check it out. Justin got me this cool shirt." It wasn't until I slapped him upside the head that he finally got it. Congratulations to Andersons North. Job well done, even if it wasn't in our basement. Can't wait to meet the little one in early December!

Memories

Eddy Arnold died today. When I was growing up in Calumet City, my mother taught me how to waltz to Eddy Arnold. I love that music. Eddy, Ray Price, Perry Como, Tony Bennett. I can't help it. They are all regulars on the ipod playlist. Such great memories dancing with my mother in the kitchen on Jeffery with my grandmother watching and usually hollering at us to turn the music down. It just dawned on me that my love of loud music must come from Shirl. Shirl rocks.


Happy Mother's Day, three days early, to all the Moms out there. We're having the Ubriaco clan over on Sunday for some Mom's Day cheer. Off to Peoria to see IllinoiSkating on Saturday. The last skate of the season. Always sad to lay a program to rest. Lauren comes home late Saturday after the ice show. That freshman year flew by. Then down to the lake with all the kids for Memorial Day weekend. I can't wait to be on the lake again. Last time was last August, too, too long.

Contraband

According to Merriam-Webster contraband is "goods or merchandise whose importation, exportation, or possession is forbidden." Possession being the key word. In my life contraband is many things. Contraband is a bottle of water in my carry on bag at O'Hare, an umbrella at Soldier Field or a camera at a Bruce Springsteen concert. In a kindergartner's world contraband might be bubble gum, candy, permanent markers or a bottle of glue instead of a glue stick. In a teenager's world it might be cigarettes, a cell phone in class or porn. But for a senior citizen............it's salt. That's right, salt. Tonight, as Rick was visiting his Dad in the rehab center, he witnessed his Dad sneaking not one, but two packets of salt to another rehab resident, who we're pretty sure, is not supposed to have salt. Gotta love the old folks sticking together.

Is this what it boils down to? I don't even like salt but my girls better be sneaking me some in my golden years!

May Flowers

Since there is "severe weather" predicted for today I wanted to share my flowering trees with my readers. They are so beautiful now. But once the rains come there will be no more flowers. Good thing rabbits don't climb trees!

GW '08

Hard to believe that we survived another Girl's Weekend. Nancy was the "Hostess with the Mostest" this time around and I must say she rocked ass. We all arrived in Lexington on Thursday night and serious eating and drinking ensued. Shocking, I know. Spent the day Friday taking a tour of Darley Farms where last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Street Sense, is now a serious stud. No kidding, three times a day, everyday for six months. Then they ship him off to Australia for the other six months, again, three times a day. That's the kind of stud I'm talkin' about! From Darley we were off to Keeneland for the last day of Spring Thoroughbred Racing. After a fabulous tailgate we headed in to bet on the ponies. Sad to say there were no big winners that day. Back to Nancy's Lost Creek Farm for cocktails and dinner. Pasta night, YUM! Saturday was the Rolex Three Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park where we scored the most awesome parking spot. Crazy shit that eventing. It takes an average of 11 minutes to complete the course with the horses running an average of 21 mph jumping over jumps almost as big as my house. There were two horses that were injured in Saturday's competition that ultimately had to be put down. Very sad. Once the bloody mary booth closed for the day we split and headed back to Nancy's for shrimp on the barbie. We've learned over the years that as much as we love each other, we really can't take more than three days together. Sunday rolled around and it was time to head home. We dropped Colleen off at the Louisville airport and Nancy, Lene and I headed to Churchill Downs where I hit the exacta in the 2nd race for some serious cash. We could have stayed there all day but needed to get home. Long drive back to Chicago but we arrived safe and sound. To view all the pictures from Girl's Weekend, click here.

There is nothing better than spending some quality time with my girls. I've known Nancy and Colleen since 7th grade and Lene since I was 17. I would go to the ends of the earth for these women and they would do the same for me. Many people never have a "best friend" but I have three (4 counting K-Ho!) who I wouldn't trade for wine anything.

In other news:

Still not smoking but getting fatter by the second.

Justin turned 35 yesterday, even he is getting old! Happy belated bday dude.

Lauren finishes up her first year of college next week. That went fast.

The rabbits ate all my tulips again this year. Bastards!

My new camera sucks. I'm going to try and take it back to Best Buy. Wish me luck.

This Is Not Right

For someone who hates bugs and creepy crawlers as much as I do, this is just not right. To many people spring means blooming flowers, grass turning green, birds singing, allergies kicking in, etc. Not for me. Spring means time to wash the windows. Not a fun chore in any house but especially mine. Why, you ask? Take a look at this.This is the kind of shit that I find every spring when I open up my windows to clean them. It is not so simple as to only require some Windex and paper towel. Noooooooooo! For me it requires the vaccuum and a strong stomach not to be completely repulsed by the creatures that make my windows their home. It is so utterly fucking gross I could scream. Rick tells me not to sweat the small stuff. This is so not fucking small. There is some sort of creature out there that makes these nests in my windows. I have never seen an actual bug but there are remnants. There are "shells" and "coccoons" and even some small worms. What the fuck are these and why can't they be happy living in the woods? Does anyone know? Does anyone else have this shit nesting in their windows or am I the only freak who still even cleans windows? Neighbors? New York cousins who have lived in the woods forever? Anyone? There will be something special in it for anyone who can tell me what makes this "nest" and how to get rid of it and prevent it from ever returning.

But wait, there's more!

Help! Please help!