That Was Close

While I was busy bragging about my Escalade with 186,00 miles the other day, I neglected to knock on wood. Big mistake on my part. As I drove Rick to the train yesterday morning my lights were flashing on and of, the radio was going in and out and all sorts of dash lights were lighting up. Rick, being the one that never worries about anything, told me just to drive his car since he was taking the train to work. That's all fine and good for the time being but he will need his car again soon. When I returned from the train station I called my trusty mechanic (a definite must when you have an old car) and he told me to bring it right in. When I arrived at the auto repair shop and explained to him what was going on he immediately said, "Sounds like the alternator." We all know that won't be cheap. Karla picked me up and brought me back home and I waited for the dreaded call from Bruce the mechanic. At 9:15 he called and said it was nothing more than a loose battery cable! He checked the alternator, fine, checked the battery, fine and checked the electrical system, fine too. Cost me $40. Honestly, I think I'm going to be buried in that damn Escalade!

Just Not the Same

I love all that is Christmas. Decorating, baking, shopping, wrapping and especially giving. But Christmas hasn't been the same for 5 years now. Just saying 5 years blows my mind. For 5 years there have been no Marshall Field's boxes under the tree, a staple at Christmastime for generations. For 5 years there have been no lunches under the tree in the Walnut Room, at least not for us. While Macy's decided to keep the Walnut Room, it is no longer Marshall Field's Walnut Room. The windows on State Street are no longer Marshall Field's Christmas windows. Every year during the holiday season we would take our family downtown to view the windows, skate on State (now relocated to Millennium Park) and generally just take in all that is Christmas in Chicago. Damn Macy's. It is my understanding that the Macy's on State Street is not doing so well, even after 5 years. We Chicagoans are serious about our Marshall Field's. While there are many out there who have embraced Macy's in the Marshall Field's State Street location, I have not and will not. EVER. Period. I am proud to say that I have not gone into Macy's once. That's right, not one single time in 5 years. I'm not sure what, if anything, could get me into that store. Funny thing is that when we would travel I would enjoy going to Macy's in other cities. But since taking over my beloved Marshall Field's I just can't do it anymore. They could have changed every other Field's to Macy's and left the flagship store on State Street and I and most Chicagoans would have still been shopping there. But nooooo. They had to try to make it all New York like. Well people, this is not New York. This is Chicago. And we still don't want Macy's or Donald Trump.

A brief update:

J and J and the kids have moved back to LA. A job thing. While we totally understand that one must go where the money is we miss them terribly. OK, maybe not so much J and J, but Aud and Henry, break my heart. Heading to LA in March for skating Nationals and extending our visit for a week to spend some quality time with the grandkids. While Skyping is great for long distances, there is no replacement for hugs, kisses and momos (Eskimo kisses).

Mashley are still in NOLA and loving it. Definitely their new home. Although not so new anymore since they have been there almost 5 years now.

Lauren just finished up her first semester of her senior year and has been inducted into Lambda Pi Eta, the national honor society for Communication majors. She is more excited about getting a cord to wear at graduation than anything! She is applying to graduate programs currently. She has applied to 5 schools, two of which are USC and Pepperdine. Honestly, if she goes out to LA we may go there too. To think that J and J, the grandkids and Lauren would all be out there and we would be here is just wrong on so many levels. And, yes, still skating.

Me and Rick....Let's see. Just barely keeping our heads above water these days. Sometimes it seems as though we are being pulled in every direction. But life is good in general. No real complaints. And in exactly 8 days we will celebrate 24 years of the best marriage ever. How did I get so lucky? Still crazy about the Big Man.

Ozzy is getting older and grayer by the minute. Aren't we all?! He took his first trip to College this year when we went to Florida and he stayed with Lauren and her roomies for 2 weeks. The poor dog was literally exhausted when he returned home. Too many late night beer pong games for Ozman! He needs some conditioning!

General news:

- Planning a Ubriaco family reunion in Lake Placid next year. Can't wait for that. I could go years without seeing my cousins and when we finally get together it's like we were never apart. True familial bonds there baby.

- Bears need a big win tonight against Minnesota to clinch the NFC north division. BEAR DOWN!

- The Escalade now has 186,000 miles on it and still going strong. I love my Escalade and I'm driving it 'til it drops. No matter that some dash lights don't work, one of the heated seats only works on high, there are lots of nicks and scratches, a broken fog light (who uses those anyway!) and countless other things, it is still the best car I have ever owned. Saving Rick money all the time! Too bad he doesn't believe that.

So a Merry Christmas shout out to Colleen in NM, Nancy in Lexington, my LA family, my NOLA family, my NY family, my St. Louis family and all my friends and family in Chitown. Love and health and happiness to all.

Melt My Heart

I know it's been forever since I posted and I promise a "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" post very soon. But in the meantime I just had to post this picture of Audrey and Appa. Audrey is soooooo enamored with Rick it is way too cute. She even shuns her Mom and Dad for Appa. On Saturday we visited Audrey and fam and things went exactly like they always do. As soon as Audrey sees Rick she has eyes for absolutely no one else. She brings him book after book and toy after toy. Rick obliges each and every time by reading whatever book she brings him and playing with whatever toy is the toy of the moment. Who knows how long this will last. You never know with little ones. We could show up some Saturday and she may want nothing to do with Rick. But for now we are all enjoying this obsession with Appa. Rick puts Aud to bed each time we visit. There aren't many people who can put her to bed, but she has no problem with Appa. Way too cute.

How's Jer Hole?

After suffering with a bad tooth for years, I finally had my first root canal last week. Not very pleasant. Exactly one week later, that same tooth had to be pulled. Luckily it is in the back of my mouth so it is not easily visible. But I do have a big smile and I'm concerned about looking like some kind of hillbilly with a missing tooth. In time I will have an implant put in its place but that is a long process in itself.

After having the tooth pulled, I asked my dentist if I could take it home and put it under my pillow. Perhaps the Tooth Fairy would bring me a big diamond or the like. I mean, I suffered for a long time with this tooth. One would think it would be worth something. I purposely told Rick that I was putting the tooth under my pillow that night since he doesn't take well to subtle hints. When I awoke the next morning, NOTHING. Not even a quarter. Just the tooth in the little ziploc baggie my dentist gave me. Boohoo. When I commented to Rick that I recieved nothing from the Tooth Fairy he told me to put it under my pillow again that night and he would leave me the checking account balance slip! Enough said, I get the point.

The next night when Rick came home from work, he asked, "How's jer hole?" I said, "WHAT?"

He said, "I can't ask you how your tooth is anymore since it's been pulled, so how's jer hole?" I responded, "CLOSED. Thank you very much."

He's a Keeper

Henry looks just like Audrey when she was born. I wanted to post a picture of Aud at one week next to Henry but I don't know how to post two pictures side by side. Too advanced for a suburban blogger.

Meet Henry Harlan

J & J sure breed em big. Henry was born this morning at 5:23 weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounces and measuring 23 inches long. HUGE! Mama and baby are both doing great. Non and Appa (Aud's names for us) are also doing well with our first overnight sitting venture. Honestly, if you can't handle Aud, you can't handle any kid. She is such a sweet thing and sleeps like a bear in hibernation. Gotta love that. We took Aud to visit her little brother today and she shared her Cheerios with him. Way too sweet. Anyway, Jeanne wins the prize for biggest baby I know of delivered naturally. Whoa. She's quite the trooper. Henry starts Bears training camp in July, we'll keep you posted.

HUGE!

Over the years Rick has brought me many treasures from his treks through the woods with Ozzy (and our Chuckie). Wild flowers, animal bones and hides and teeth, golf balls, archery arrows, etc. Today I got a giant mushroom. Thanks Honey. You're too sweet.

Still no Squatch. Two days past the due date. I'm sure he will bring his mom home a few mushrooms in his day. We just can't wait to meet the little guy. We decided to do some painting today. Nothing major just the steps from the garage to the house and some touch ups from last spring's deck project. But you know as soon as we get set up to paint, or perhaps, smack dab in the middle of painting, Squatch will come. Like lighting a cigarette while waiting for the bus, as soon as you do the bus arrives. I happen to think it's a brilliant idea.

Lauren came home from school yesterday. She is officially a Senior. Wow, that went fast. Next is the GRE in June and grad school apps in the fall. Meanwhile, my hallway is filled with the contents of her apartment and there is still more to come. I think last year the crap stayed in hall for 3 weeks until I finally lost it. I don't want to be a bitch but three weeks, really? Let's keep track this year and see if she can break her record!

Squatch Watch

Four days until J&J's baby is due. Rick and I are on call to stay with Aud while they (really, let's face it, JEANNE) go have baby number two. Being the crazy family that they are - I have no idea where they get it from - they have nicknamed their unborn son Squatch. Short for Sasquatch. Apparently the little guy is extremely hairy. And he and Aud both have their Daddy's feet. The 3D ultrasounds they have these days are amazing. The detail is phenomenal and we have been lucky enough to have seen many pictures of the baby before he is even born. Just crazy. So my bag is packed and ready, just waiting for the call to head to the OP.

Mother's Day was fabulous. We had Shirl, Mike and Debbie over along with their families. And Lauren surprised me with a visit home. She had finals all last week and her last two today so it was definitely a shocker when I went to take out the garbage yesterday and and there she was when I opened the door. Scared the SHIT out of me but the best Mother's Day gift ever. With her was the new BF Charles who we like more and more each time we see him. Finally a normal boyfriend! I'm pretty sure Lauren is starting to figure it out. When I say it, I mean life. As if any of us ever figure it out.

It's a gorgeous day in the HG today. Gonna put on the ipod, gas up the John Deere and cut me some grass. Think I'll wear my Wild hat. That's a shout out to my girls!

Enough with the Bacon

When we first moved to the HG 17 years ago the only "restaurants" that were nearby were McDonalds. Not long after came Dunkin Donuts, then Taco Bell, Burger King and Wendy's. During the real estate boom, about 5 years ago, came Chili's. Not that Chili's is our favorite place to eat but it was the only place withing a 5 minute drive. We were ecstatic until recently when Chili's "revamped" their menu to include Applewood smoked bacon in almost every entree. Easy enough to order anything without the bacon but, honestly, must we put bacon in everything? Yesterday, while enjoying a winning afternoon at the OTB, I noticed they now have bacon in almost all of their entrees as well. What is the fascination with the bacon?! This country gets fatter (including myself) and more unhealthy every day. Do we really need all this bacon? It's out of control. SAY NO TO BACON!

In other news: It has been much too long since I last posted and much has happened. I spent the first three weeks of April in Kentucky. First two weeks with my hubby at the lake house and the third week with Nancy in Lexington. There is almost nothing better than a week with my girls. But this trip to Lex would not be the usual girl's week. She Be Wild got hurt during a workout a few weeks ago and required surgery on her pastern (basically, her ankle) and is out of commission for 6-8 months. We were all devastated, especially Nancy. Needless to say she did not run in the Kentucky Oaks last Friday. So, while I went down to Lex to provide support for my BFF, turns out I am not the support I would have like to be. Upon seeing She Be for the first time two days after her surgery, I broke down. Nancy immediately called Colleen and told her the support system had failed. Us girls had a good laugh over that one. Long story short, the first thirty days after surgery are crucial and She Be Wild is doing fabulous after 15 days. Only 15 more to go. If you're at all interested, She Be Wild has a fan page on facebook. I do not belong to facebook and never will. I have my own blog and I don't need to know what my kids are up to every second. I would rather not know. Ignorance is bliss. Besides, the last thing I need is for some loser from high school to find me. No thanks.

Skating season is over but the new season has already begun with tryouts yesterday. Should know this week what team Lauren makes. This is her last year. I can hardly believe it. What am I going to do with all the extra money? Rick will finally be able to retire!

We got to meet Lauren's new boyfriend, Charles, a few weeks ago. He seems very nice but more importantly he adores my daughter. That's all he needs to do to be in good with me and the big man. He sends her flowers and buys her little gifts for no reason. She has always dated "bad boys" and is enjoying having a real boyfriend who does real boyfriend stuff. What a pleasant change.

Lauren also got a job for the summer. Crazy, I know! But a real job with a real paycheck. She will be working promotions for Chicago Twenty Something. Check it out. Right up her alley. Her first event is the Chicago Mustache Contest. So proud of our baby and looking forward to closing our checkbook!

Grass-carrier Wasps

I have finally figured out what it is that nests in my windows. The Grass-carrier wasp. Who knew. Check this out. http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/node/144 I truly enjoy cleaning my windows each spring. Call me a weirdo, I'm fine with that. But it is so satisfying to look out into our woods through sparkling clean windows. I spent the better part of yesterday doing just that. The kitchen, family room and mudroom are all finished. That only leaves about 10 more rooms and the basement! Every year there are these nests in some of my windows. None of my neighbors have ever seen or had these nests in their windows. I had searched google before trying to determine what these critters were. Perhaps I was not as specific in my search terms because when I searched it again this morning this link came right up. At least I finally know that it is nothing to be concerned about. But how gross. Every year. I almost can't stand it. Here's a post from awhile back that sums it all up.
http://bishand.blogspot.com/2008/04/this-is-not-right.html

Precious

We spent the day with our little Audball yesterday and Grandpa got to read her bedtime stories. There's a particular book (not this one) titled Knuffle Bunny that has a cartoon picture of an old man with glasses, a mustache and no hair that Aud likes to point to and call Appa, her term for Grandpa. She waits and waits for that picture and when the page is turned she points to Appa faster than you can begin reading. Way too cute. Rick is the best storybook reader. We look forward to lots of bedtime stories, not only with Aud, but with Dos as well

Boycott Blago

I cannot believe that a judge allowed Blagojevich to be a contestant on The Apprentice. Anyone who watches this show with him on it should be considered an accomplice. The next thing you know he will be crying that he can't get a fair trial. This guy is a crook. Plain and simple. Please do not line his pockets by watching this show. It is embarrassing enough to live in this state, now this? Really? My prediction is Donald will fire him quickly. Too much hair competition.

A True Team Effort

This is Kati doing Amy's makeup while Lauren fixes Amy's hair while Corinna sews Lauren's hair. Yes, I did say sew. The girls have to have their hair sewn in for every competition. The bun form and hair comb are sewn into the hair with a plastic needle and fishing line. This prevents anything from falling out of the hair and onto the ice creating a hazard during a skate. I have sewn so many buns over the years and I don't miss it one bit. Another huge hazard is a blade to the arm or any part of the body. Lauren got the blade to the arm during practice 2 days before they competed. Fortunately no stitches were needed but it looks like she tried to slit her wrist. Kati P. slipped and fell on the ice outside of the rink and twisted her ankle the night before competition. And three girls fell with what we assume was some sort of flu. All in all they managed to pull it together and skate their best skate of the year. They had their highest score of the year at Nationals but it wasn't enough to medal. Fifth place. Missed fourth by just more than one point. I thought with all the obstacles they faced in the weeks leading up to Nationals they had a tremendous skate and I am so proud of them all. That concludes the 09-10 competition season. They still have to skate a few exhibitions between now and the end of the school year so it's not over yet. But to think we've been doing this for 10 years and the next is Lauren's last makes me sad. I can't imagine not watching her skate anymore. She always gets kudos from everyone for her presentation because her smile and posture are outstanding. Everyone thinks so, not just her mom. She says it's because she loves what she does so much that she can't help but smile. Awwww.

Here's all the pics, mostly of the team getting ready for competition but interesting to see them all prepare.

IllinoiSkating Nationals Minneapolis March 2010

Lauren said that Coach Audrey gave the most moving speech to them before they skated. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Maybe next time she should make them cry before they do their makeup!

Life's Been Good To Me So Far

That song will forever remind me of two things. The first is my many summer vacations spent in upstate New York with my cousins, forever listening to The Eagles and Joe Walsh, drinking beer in the bandstand and down by the river, running back and forth between Aunt Jean's and Grandma's house, sleeping on Grandma's porch, brown bread, molasses cookies (my father's favorite) and so many other great memories. These were truly some of the best times of my life. While we only saw the NY cousins in the summer we are a close knit bunch despite the distance between us.

The second is when my brother Kenny bought his Moped. It was the coolest thing. His was actually yellow, if I remember correctly. My other brothers teased him relentlessly and came up with their own lyrics for this song that included "My Moped goes 45, I lost my license, now I don't drive!" Not very original, I know, but funny as hell at the time. The teasing in our family is still relentless. We will never grow up, at least I hope not.

Off to Minneapolis for Nationals tomorrow. Go ILLINI!

Numb Thumb

You may as well just paste the big L on my forehead now. I just bought Super Mario for Wii and Rick and I played for the first time last night. Well, my left thumb is completely numb this morning. I recall the same thing happening when I first played Mario Cart. When the kids were little, they would go to bed and Rick and I would stay up all hours of the night and play Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda. But this is so much better since we can both play at the same time. I have to say that Rick is not much of a team player. He is always pushing me around and seldom breaks my bubble when I die. If he does manage to break my bubble he almost always dies in the process. He needs a bit more practice. Not tonight, though. It's ladies long program tonight. And those skaters are amazing.

Good Riddance

I honestly thought that once Lauren was skating in college that there would be less drama. Silly me. With girls comes drama. End of story. Last week a girl on the skating team quit. Three weeks before Nationals. Just up and quit. That leaves the team with no alternate since the only alternate we had is now skating the drama queen's spot. She was obviously not a team player and always one to blame someone else for things that went wrong during a skate. That's not to say she was always wrong but there are more diplomatic ways of handling such issues. Diplomacy was not one of her finer traits. The girls seem to skate well under pressure so providing no one gets injured between now and March 5, IllinoiSkating should still kick some butt at Nationals. And to the girl who quit I say this - Don't let the rink door hit you in the ass!

Onto the next rant......

Tiger Woods shut up already! I am sick and tired of his drama too. My Grandma Rose used to tell us girls if you don't want to get pregnant keep your legs crossed. So in the spirit of Grandma Rose I say to Tiger - Keep your dick in you pants!

We had a great weekend including attending Barb's 40th birthday party. Of course it was supposed to be a surprise but surprises are so hard to pull off. I found out during the party that each day when her kids would get up in the morning Barb was drilling them about the possibility of an upcoming party. Really? Shame on you Barb. Check out the pics.

Barb's 40th birthday Feb. 2010

The Who Dat Nation

I am officially a Saints fan. I'm still a Bears fan but unless they are playing each other I will root for the Saints. What an incredible experience to be in New Orleans for the Saints big win in Super Bowl XLIV. The city was out of control, in a good way. We watched the game at Marc's house and dined on craw fish bread and shrimp soup courtesy of Chef Marc. Delish! When we headed back downtown we couldn't get within 7 blocks of the hotel by car. We were staying about 3 blocks from the French Quarter in the Central Business District. Well, let me tell you, the entire downtown area, the Quarter, the CBD, the Warehouse District, was wall to wall cars and people. All celebrating the time of their lives. Eventually we ditched the taxi and walked the remaining 7 blocks. Never once did we see or hear of anything bad happening. No burning garbage cans, no gunfire, no overturned cars. Just a joyful crowd of New Orleanians. What a sensational thing to happen for such a terrific city. New Orleans needed that victory and they deserved it too. Good for them.

Aside from the Super Bowl, we also took in some local parades that lead up to Mardi Gras. I was all consumed with the parades. They throw you free shit! And lots of it. Yeah, most of it is crap but it sure is fun vying for the treasures with fellow parade goers. Marc warned me that my competitive spirit would take over when the beads started flying. I landed lots and lots of beads (in spite of popular belief, you do not have to show anything to get beads!), including some glass beads which apparently is a good haul. I will actually wear those beads. I also got a stuffed purple monkey, a Krewe of Carrollton go cup (which I left at Marc's, damn!) and some black and gold beads with a fleur-de-lis pendant. According to Marc and Ashley we did well our first time out.

And the food.......the best there is. Had to eat at Drago TWICE. Dined at Mr. B.'s Bistro with Mashley and took in the famous Brennan's for breakfast one morning. We did lots of gambling at the conveniently located Harrah's. No, we didn't win but we had a helluva good time and scored a couple of "free" t-shirts!

Our last night was the Super Bowl Victory Parade. Right in front of our hotel. The parade began at 5 but we were far down the parade route and knew it would be quite awhile before they reached us. So I stood on the street starting at 4:45 while Rick gambled away more money at the casino. Rick showed up around 6 as did Mashley. Although Mashley was just across the street from us there were so many people and barricades that we couldn't actually meet up and watch the parade together. Rick and I had a front row seat, or maybe it's a stand. Hmmm. The parade got to us finally around 8 and I was so cold! But when those floats were rounding the corner toward us and the crowd began to whoop and holler it didn't matter. My biggest score from all the parades was catching a strand of beads from Drew Brees himself. Followed by a great picture of Drew proving what a great spot we had on the route. Check out all our NOLA pics.

Super Bowl in NOLA 2-2010

And a few pics of Midwestern Sectionals.

IllinoiSkating Mids Cedar Rapids 1-2010

The Worst Saturday Morning Movie Ever

I know, I know, it's Friday night. I have an early flight in the morning and have no business being up this late watching the worst movie ever. Death Race. End of story.

Who dat?

Geaux Saints!

Off to New Orleans this weekend to visit Marc. And watch the Super Bowl with all those crazy cajuns. And eat lots of grilled oysters and Beignets from Cafe Du Monde. New Orleans is absolutely the craziest place I have ever been. I can't imagine what it will be like this time with it being Mardi Gras and the Saints in the Super Bowl. Win or lose there will be a parade for the Saints on Tuesday at 5 and apparently our hotel is one block off the parade route. Totally pumped. I went to the parade in '86 when the Bears won the Super Bowl and it was insane. It was about 20 below, if I remember right, and our boss let Nancy and I leave work to go to the parade. Hell, we were 20, we didn't give a damn about the cold! And on our way back to the office that day we bought some $10 Super Bowl XX t-shirts from a vendor on the street. I was so pumped because I bargained with the man enough that he finally gave in and gave us two shirts for $8! See, I've always been like this. I hate paying full price for anything. Back to New Orleans...Very excited to see Marc and Ashley, even more excited to spend 5 days with my honey. Did I mention we were staying across the street from the casino? BONUS! We are gamblers at heart, can't even help it. Finally, possibly in the plans are Dragos and Brennan's and Mr. B's Bistro.

Last weekend we were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the 2010 Midwestern and Pacific Synchronized Team Skating Sectional Championships with my mom. There was a terrible flood there in 2008. Much like the situation in New Orleans with Katrina, the levees on the river broke and entire neighborhoods flooded. When we drove through the lower lying areas it reminded us so much of New Orleans with the boarded up houses and the spray paint on the outside of the houses indicating if the house had been inspected. Block after block there would be one to two houses on each block that were inhabited. Everything else was boarded up and mostly for sale. Locals told us of many families that just moved clean out of town after the flood. Very sad. But on a brighter note, University of Illinois took 4th and therefore qualified for Nationals in March. While their competition was tough, they had an outstanding skate. They scored 2 points higher than they did at Nationals last year. I know 2 points doesn't seem like much to the average Joe but in skating it's HUGE.

In closing I will simply say "Who dat?"

Catching Up

After an absolutely fabulous week in Puerto Vallarta with Lauren and three of her college friends I finally managed to take my Christmas decorations down. I am certain this was the longest I have ever had them up. But our vacation was so great that we have decided to go to Puerto Vallarta every year after Christmas. It is the perfect time to get away. And I don't give a shit if the Christmas decorations stay up all year. I tend to overstress about crap like that but I will get over it. Here's all the pics including way too many of the iguana that lives near the pool. I did not take all those iguana pictures, fyi.

Puerto Vallarta

And just for fun, here is IllinoiSkating at MidAmerica in Fraser, MI. While it was not their best skate they still managed a bronze medal. Next weekend is Midwestern Sectionals (the qualifier for Nationals) where they will need a great skate. I adore the music this year. I adored the music last year, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49eW4CdSDeQ

Finally, She Be Wild won the Eclipse award for best 2 year old filly! For those of you who are unaware, the Eclipse Awards are the Academy Awards of horse racing. A huge honor for She Be Wild and Nancy. Congrats to my BFF! All the times we have shared at various barns over the years, who could have imagined we would be here today.