Uncategorized

The bittersweet taste of August

My son Scott, strumming sweet melodies of which I will miss…but most of all, I will miss him.

Vintage college boys frollicking on campus

School is back in session and I’m ready. Ready for mornings of quiet and time to think. Ready for 6 hours a day when I can (hopefully) get things done, resume going to the gym and start the much needed task of organizing the house.

My first born starts his 3rd year of college here in Chicago, and I am amazed at how quickly my two oldest sons are turning into full fledged adults. They are men now, and they don’t answer to me all that much, (only when it really matters) as they work toward their futures. They are good guys, they behave themselves and I am very proud of what they’ve become.

My daughter is wonderful, sweet, edgy, and very determined. She is a solid gal, and won’t let anyone make her do something she doesn’t want to do. I’m very proud of her. She loves her momma, too. She is beginning her junior year in high school. She has plans on going to my alma mater, Columbia College in downtown Chicago. Mom’s proud as a peacock! Will see what senior year brings, but it’s nice to know your kid wants to go to your college…it’s kind of like she wants to wear your wedding dress….it’s flattering.

I hope you all have wonderful back to school moments with your kids….and enjoy your ME time. Cut out a little corner of time each day just for you while they’re away. It will make you feel content and happy. Let me know how it goes.

On Thursday I send my second born off to college and I am so sad about that. Scott is my peacemaker, my sweetest son and my biggest helper. I will miss him so much. I will miss the sound of his guitar as he plays it in his room-just about a month ago, I heard him strumming a really pretty melody and it drifted through my bathroom wall. I got teary thinking soon I won’t be hearing those beautiful songs in the morning for very much longer because he will be away at NIU. It was a really sad moment for me. Fortunately, his college is only a little over an hour away, so he can come home more frequently should he get home sick (which I think he will.) The school is close enough that, should mom get homesick for him, I can jump in the car and visit.
The song that’s playing now is the one I think of when I see my two boys growing older into men. Although this song was written by Mariah probably to her boyfriend, it can easily be a mother’s anthem to her sons-especially when they move out or head for college. We’ll always be a part of them….indefinately. Read the lyrics…they really do hit home.
*******************************************************
We were as one, babe
for a moment in time.
And it seemed everlastiing,
that you would always be mine.
Now you want to be free,
so I’ll let you fly,
’cause I know in my heart, babe,
our love will never die.
You’ll always be a part of me.
I’m part of you indefinitely.
Boy, don’t you know you can’t escape me.
Ooh darling, cause you’ll always be my baby.
And we’ll linger on.
Time can’t erase a feeling strong.
No way you’re ever gonna shake me.
Ooh darling, ’cause you’ll always be my baby.
I ain’t gonna cry, no,
and I won’t beg you to stay.
I you’re determined to leave boy,
I will not stand in your way.
But inevitably
you’ll be back again,
’cause you know in your heart, babe,
our love will never end.
You’ll always be a part of me.
I’m part of you indefinitely.
Boy, don’t you know you can’t escape me.
Ooh darling, cause you’ll always be my baby.
And we’ll linger on.
Time can’t erase a feeling strong.
No way you’re ever gonna shake me.
Ooh darling, ’cause you’ll always be my baby.
I know that you’ll be back, boy,
when your days and your nights get a little bit colder.
I know that you’ll be right back, baby.
Baby, believe me, it’s only a matter of time, time.
You’ll always be a part of me.
I’m part of you indefinitely.
Boy, don’t you know you can’t escape me.
Ooh darling, cause you’ll always be my baby.
And we’ll linger on.
Time can’t erase a feeling strong.
No way you’re ever gonna shake me.
Oh darling, ’cause you’ll always be my baby.
You’ll always be a part of me.
I’m part of you indefinitely.
Boy, don’t you know you can’t escape me.
Ooh darling, cause you’ll always be my baby.
And we’ll linger on.
Time can’t erase a feeling strong.
No way you’re ever gonna shake me.
Oh darling, ’cause you’ll always be my baby.
Uncategorized

My List of Bliss

Have you ever sat back and thought about the little things in life that bring you happiness, pleasure and satisfaction? The Women’s Comfort Book encourages readers to compile a ‘Joy List’. On this list we are encouraged to write down all the simple pleasures both tangible and intangible, emotional or sensory that we can think of. I love doing this kind of thing-exploring and looking deep inside myself and writing things down as I think of them. So, here’s my crack at it. I’m sure I’ll think of a million other things after I hit the publish button, but I suppose this post can be subject to change.

Here I go:

-Perfect 73 degree weather, sunshine and breezy
-Screened porches
-My cats Fletch and Ollie when they roll around on my bed absolutely eating up the attention I’m giving them.
-Curling up with a book that strikes my fancy
-Pasta and bread with butter
-A delicious sirloin steak or prime rib with a fancy salad
-Fresh coffee with flavored creamer
-Laughing hilariously with girlfriends.
-Sewing and creating things with girlfriends
-Walking in New York City and finding a treasure someone dropped on the sidewalk
-Autumn in New York and Chicago
-Cheesecake-any flavor
-A Hot shower with fragrant soap
-Riding a bike and feeling the wind in my face and through my hair
-Lying in bed and listening to the rain drops hit the roof.
-Clean cotton sheets, cool and smooth against my freshly shaved legs
-My daughter when she hugs me and tells me she loves me for no other reason than she felt it at that moment
-Finding that perfect shade of lipstick
-Burying my nose in a bunch of fresh lavender
-The way a tea bag smells

-Hugging my boys and delighting in how handsome and grownup they are
-Curling up with my hubby and watching a good movie or the Cubs kick butt
-Folding the last load of hot, fragrant dry laundry
-Being in the company of women I look up to and admire
-Having someone brush my hair slowly and play with the strands, it’s so relaxing!
-A pedicure and luscious calf massage
-Kisses on the back of the neck and shoulders
-The abundant, content feeling of a well stocked pantry
-Finding a cartful of treasures at the Goodwill
-Going out to lunch at Panera Bread-Bacon Turkey Bravo with the Strawberry Poppyseed salad
-Designing something that exceeds my expectations
-Making the cover of a magazine
-Endorphins kicking in after 20 minutes on the elliptical and just when a fantastic song comes on my Nano
-Watching reruns of Sex and the City. I never tire of them. My favorite episode? I Heart NY (season 4)
-Wanting something, trying to figure out how to get it and actually accomplishing the task of acquiring the said item or wish.
-Curling up on the sofa watching the first snow fall. It feels so warm and secure inside when it’s so cold outside
_Walking in a yarn shop and being overwhelmed by all the beautiful colors and textures. What’s blissful is imagining all the fun I will have knitting something with a delicious, new skein of yarn.
-Thoughts of bicyling in France
-A few hours alone with nothing but a good book and some Frank Sinatra on low in the background

What’s on your Bliss List?

Uncategorized

Happy Anniversary, Baby!


August 4th, 1984

August 4th, 2008

On August 4th, 1984, Larry and I got married. Today is our 24th wedding anniversary. We’ve had 5 kids together, have weathered many, many storms and to date, are doing very well. I am proud we have made it this long, in this day and age where 50% of couples end up in divorce. Sure we have our moments, and sometimes those moments turn into a week or two, but so far we’ve come out stronger after it’s all over.

What I enjoy about my marriage is that it’s comfortable. Larry feels like home to me. He is the one person in the whole world I feel most familiar with, he is the one I feel most comfortable with and I know he loves me like no one else does or ever has. It’s difficult to get older and go through changes and still come out being the same person you were when you started. He has been a counselor, psychologist, and friend in addition to being a husband. I’m pretty lucky, I think. That’s pretty much how it is with us.

Just want to say Happy Anniversary to my hubby and let him know he’s ”Still the one.”

Uncategorized

SUNDAY NITE FISH FRY IN CHICAGO!!

This was yesterday…………….(funny!)

This was today-a winning pitcher who in my humble opinion is absolute ‘eye candy’…..

And now it’s off to Milwaukee for a 4 game series where hopefully, the Cubs will beat the snot out of the Brewers.
The Cubs were victorious over the Marlins today and unfortunately, I wasn’t there to enjoy the win, I stayed home and watched the game on TV. We only had 4 tickets for todays game, so I opted out.

CUBS WIN!!! CUBS WIN!!! AND, the Milwaukee Brewers LOST!!!

I’m off to see the Brewers game in Milwaukee tomorrow night! Send good energie for a Cubbie win! I’d say pray, but I don’t believe in bothering God with trivial stuff like baseball games when there’s so much in the world to really pray for!

Uncategorized

Take me out to the ballgame!

Scoreboard and sky…

Sons David (L) and Scott with their girlfriends on the shuttle going to the game.

View from our seats….

Nothing like 12X Zoom to make it look like you were closer than you actually were.

The Earnie Banks statue outside of the park

The famous street that Wrigley Field is on

Bummed out Cubs fans after the game

Down the left field line-Notice the roof seats? Wrigleyville is famous for having these rooftop bleachers-for a steep price, too!

View from our seats-looking toward the bleacher bums just before the game started


Me and my husband….happier times before the Cubs started losing

This is the kind of thing that brings a jinx on the Cubs….who’s eatin’ Cub meat for dinner?

Yesterday was the first game for me in this long marathon of games my husband, his uncle and aunt are partaking in. I’m only going to a few, but I did snap some photos of the fun we had. Unfortunately, there was no fishfry today, since the Marlins beat our butts for the second day in a row. Man…I thought bears ate fish, not the other way around! That’s okay, I’m holding out hope and have a psychic feeling that all will be well. Will see!

Uncategorized

Monday at the Arboretum….oh, and the BUGS!

“Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees,
then names the streets after them.”- Bill Vaughan
Today we gathered everyone up and took a trip to the Morton Arboretum in the western suburbs of Chicago. There was a special exhibition there of gynormous bugs made from wood. They were beautifulhere are some of them…
Jeff (my youngest)eats the praying mantis before it gets him! (A little photo trickery never hurt anyone, now did it?)

A bee made from wood….
Waterlillies just like the ones Monet had been inspired by…

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!- – – Isaac Watts “Divine Songs”

“The wonder is that we can see these trees

and not wonder more.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonfly…

Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky.”

– Dante Gabriel Rossetti “Silent Noon”

Tree at my window, window tree,

My sash is lowered when night comes on;

But let there never be curtain drawn

Between you and me.” – Robert Frost

“As a thinker and planner, the ant is the equal of any savage race of men; as a self-educated specialist in several arts, she is the superior of any savage race of men; and in one or two high mental qualities she is above the reach of any man, savage or civilized!”– “What is Man? by Mark Twain



The spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine!

Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.

– – – Alexander Pope

my boys, Drew, Jeff & Scott


And see the peaceful trees extend
their myriad leaves in leisured dance—they bear
the weight of sky and cloud upon the fountain
of their veins.
– Kathleen Raine, Envoi

These photos were taken by my soon to be 16 year old daughter, Caroline. She wants to major in photography in college-Good call, don’tcha think?

Uncategorized

Languid

I’m tired of:

Begging and cajolling two boys to shower (occasionally) and change their clothes and brush their teeth every day.

Mollycoddling everyone-mostly my kids. Would someone please bend over backwards for me?

Letting the dogs out.

Feeding the cats.

Answering the fugging phone for the umpteenth time, only to hear a robot on the other end trying to sell me a mortgage or warranty for my car.

Trying to lose weight.

Exercising.

Teenagers in my house on a daily basis.

Noise.

Hearing the TV run day and night.

Not being able to focus.

Feeling unfulfilled.

Doing housework-it never stays clean.

The same old vacation we take year after year. YAWN- I want something different.

The bursitis in my hip hurting.

Not seeing or hearing from my girlfriends.

Hypercritical people.

Over analyizers..

Opinionated people

Materialism.

Shitty neighbors.

Making excuses.

Being tired.

Uncategorized

Paraphenalia


Look what arrived in the mail box today! Remember several posts ago when I was sick on the sofa, feeling sorry for myself with a terrible cold? I bought myself a pin off an etsty seller from the U.K., named Paraphenalia. I love this pin, and it finally arrived today. Happy belated birthday to me!

Just wanted to show it to you …this vintage lady has a large, fish hat. Isn’t she beautiful?
Uncategorized

Tagged by Kai

I got a triple tag from Kai and here’s what I need to answer:

1.) 6 life motto words

2.) 7 facts about me

3.) 7 questions about me

My life motto words

Do what makes your heart happy

7 facts about me

1. I am very selfish about my time-I like to be alone a lot and tend to make sure I am able to get the things I want to have done accomplished.

2. Weird one. I am phobic of fingerprints. In fact, I even hate when I notice someones actual fingerprints on their fingers. I won’t eat a piece of chocolate or other food if I can see a finger smudge or worse, a print on the surface of whatever it is I’m about to eat. Once, while at a restaurant, when the waitress was serving our meal, I caught glimpse of a thumbprint on the plate and it turned my stomach and I had a difficult time getting the food down. Window fingerprint smudges-{{{{SHUDDER}}}

3. Just last Saturday, I got 2 piercings somewhere on my body–I’ll never tell! (These are the only two I will get, and I have not one tattoo…and never will!)

4. I have times where I just need quiet. I can’t tolerate two sounds at once, for example, if the two TV’s are on different stations, and I can hear both, it drives me nuts.

5. Two of the things I don’t think I could live without are fresh bread and coffee.

6. I speak with funny accents to my kids when I’m goofing around with them. (They’re learning to speak back to me the same way.) My husband hates those accents.

7. I’m ready for a new job-This time I want one away from the house. Just so I can breathe.

QUESTIONS:

4 People I email regularly-Cindy, Laura, Kim, My 8th grade graduating class.
4 movies I’d watch again: Dirty Dancing, Robin Hood Prince of Theives, Meet the Fockers, The Breakup
Places I’ve Lived: Chicago, Tinley Park, IL
Places I’ve been: Tennessee, Wisconsin, Florida, Jamaica, New York City, California (from the top to the bottom) New Mexico, Colorado, Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, Maine, Washington DC, Minnesota, Canada, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Orleans, Pennsylavania, Houston, Utah, Arizona, and many more places
Places I’d rather be living: Clearwater, Florida or a little cottage by the sea somewhere off New England. Here at home? A big vintage home in LaGrange, IL.

People I’d like to tag: Tascha, Sheila, Tina