After ten long weeks...

...Bob is finally home. Still a long road ahead but I know he can do it. Debbie, Sophia and I went down to St. Louis to welcome him home on Thursday. We actually arrived at his house before Bob and Teresa made it home from the hospital. As we were sitting in the kitchen waiting for them, it occurred to Debbie and I that perhaps we should have stopped somewhere for a "Welcome Home" balloon, or something. Nah. Instead, I quickly took a piece of paper from the printer and improvised. Not quite the welcome he deserved but c'est la vie. We were fortunate to share his first meal at home with him and his family. Best damn meal I've had in a long time. As Debbie, Sophia and I headed downtown to our hotel for the night, I was pointing out the St. Louis Arch for Sophia to see. When we finally got close enough, Sophia asked, "What do you do with that?" I explained how you could take an elevator to the top of the Arch to get a view of the city. After a short moment of silence, my 4 year old niece said, "Excuse me. I'm not doing that!" Don't you just love kids? Especially when they're not yours?!

Happy Birthday to my brother Joe who turns 48 tomorrow. Damn, we're all getting old!

They're Here!!

The cicadas that is. In all their grossness. Everywhere in the woods. In the grass, the trees, everywhere. I have been trying to think how I would describe the noise they make. After Rick spent several hours weed whacking in the woods I've decide they sound like a weed whacker. They have not yet made their way into the yard. One can only hope they never will. I probably won't be venturing into the woods for the next few weeks until they're gone. Click on the picture and you can see several of them in various stages.

A great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my LITTLE sister who hates bugs as much as I do!

Brothers Make You Bad

Call me crazy but I actually ventured out to shop yesterday with Debbie and Sophia. The parking lots were insane with traffic due to the Good Friday holiday. I was holding my own and keeping my cool when this bitch in this little Honda hocks the parking space I was waiting for. I did what any girl who grew up with 4 older brothers would do. I called her a few choice expletives (not good, since Sophia was with us) and parked in a space much further away. On my journey into the store, and conveniently past her car, I took a small detour to her driver's side window, worked up a big ass hocker and let it rip right at the top of her window. The location was primo. The perfect spot for it to ooze it's way down. I like having the last word, uh, hocker.

Its Official

Lauren will be attending University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana beginning August 18th. That would be 144 days from now. Not that we're counting or anything. She is very excited as are we. She came home from school yesterday and told me that they were done learning for the year. She proceeded on with this long diatribe about why she wouldn't be learning anything the rest of the year. When Rick came home and I told him this, he was like, "What?" I simply pointed to Lauren and had her explain to Rick. I'm relatively sure she had this speech rehearsed since she repeated to Rick, almost verbatim, what she told me. Who cares. She's in at U. of I. and that's all we care about, now. Congratulations to the newest Illini as she joins a long list of family and friends, including Bobby, Michael, Carolyn and Debbie. LONG LIVE THE CHIEF!!