Mom's Surprise 80th :)

It was a surprise 80th Birthday party for my Mom. What a glorous time I had with family!! We got a hotel room at teh Kimpton in downtown Chicago, had a scrumptious dinner at Catch 51, then an expensive nap at Billy Elliot (ok ... I found it extremely boring, please don't throw tomatoes at me). It was myself, my three sisters, my aunt & my sister in law. We were (as expected) loud and obnoxious . The rain didn't dampen our joy and fun at all.
My mom is my hero. When I (ok, if I ever) grow up, I want to be just like her. She is brave, strong, fun, full of life, loving, smart, beautiful and just plain COOL!!!
Growing up in a family of 5, money was always tight. Both Mom & Dad worked two & three jobs, we never lacked for anything that was important. We had love in abundance. I can remember we would have Pancake night or that Dad would save all the leftover meat, potatoes and veges & hand grind them for hash on Friday nights. They always managed to find time for sports & girl scouting events for all of us ... I wonder now if they EVER slept . My poor Mom, I volunterred her for everything, I don't know how she put up with me!
Mom met Dad in high school and they were inseperable after that. They taught me what true love is, that respect and admiration and total commitment to your partner that seems to be so lacking in these days of disposable marriages.
Dad was so silly in love with my Mom. He would come up behind her & grab her boob or her fanny and say .... "Can you guess who this is?" and her reply was ALWAYS "Robert Redford". She put up with his silly sayings, like "grandma wanted a watch for Christmas, so we let her" or "what did you do with the box?" your response "what box?" his response, as he laughed til he had tears "the box you stood on to kiss the elephant's ass". I don't know, but if you get it, could you please explain it to me, I am 50 years old, still laugh at it because it brought joy somehow to my Dad, but I still don't understand it ... LOL
8 years ago we lost my Dad to mistakes by several Dr's treating him for Cancer. During the time my Dad was in the hospital the last time, my Mom visited every day. Many things happened that would have made a stronger woman go crazy. Many errors were made by Dr's & hospital staff on my Dad. He ended up with a staff infection, kidney failure, dialysis, a stroke, a coma and finally he passed on to be with his family and friends who went before him. While all this craziness was going on, the tree in her front yard was struck by lightening and her China Cabinet with all her lovely pieces from her mother, grandmother & my dad's grandmother, collapsed in a freak accident. She handled all this with grace and humility. She taught us that strength comes from with in & also by leaning on your loved ones.
I hope one day to be like her, but for now, I get to just bask in the fact that I am always told, I am her clone. I just hope I can make her half as proud of me as I am of the fact, she is my Mom.

Wow, another weekend come & gone. It was great working out in the garden, even it was pulling the weeds. It amazes me how one day you can look at a patch of earth that is barren, and the next, you see the fruits of last year's labor beginning to pop their little green heads towards the sun.
I feel blessed that I have a wonderful husband who supports my crazy need for flowers & plants that are "different". Each year we add more "flower power" to our backyard, which means he has to dig up & till more of our icky clay dirt that we have & make it usable for me.
I was hoping we could add a small vegetable garden this year, but I think I will only get to plant cucumbers & maybe (fingers crossed) those gourds you can make into bird houses.
As if I need another hobby , I am hoping to learn to make bird houses from gourds. I would REALLY like to learn to do the lathe, but that is an expensive hobby to start if I suck at it... snicker. So, if I can grow the gourds, at least it will be cheap.
Next weekend we are going to surprise my mom for her 80th birthday. The "girls" are going to take her to eat dinner, see Billy Elliot & stay downtown at a Kimpton Hotel. She thinks she is just going with my one sister, but all four sisters, my aunt & my sister in law are going to be there. Next weekend she is having "Poker Night" and we are going out to the Stage Stop Restaurant for dinner. What party animals we are!
I thank God each & every day for my incredible family. We are all close, which is amazing since there are 5 "kids", and we all have each others backs. Oh, we have had our differences, but because we had such amazing parents, we have always found our way back to each other. My mother is one of the most .... most .... most ... there is just not any single word I can say. She is the glue that holds our family together and the rock we all lean on. She has always encouraged us to be who we are and to follow our dreams. She has an opinion on everything, and you will know it .... gee & people wonder where I get it from... LOL. Every single day I miss my father. He has been an angel for going on 9 years. It is hard to believe he is gone that long, but then again, he is with us always, so if I need him, I just talk to him & feel his love.
Until next time, may the good Lord bless & keep you!

We had a beautiful weekend here. Rog got the plants from the front yard transplanted to the back. I got my computer back up & limping. I drove in the Tartan parade for the Township & got to meet Jared Payton, Steve McMicheal and the members of the Schaumburg Slaughter Football team, they were very nice (and easy to look at too!!!).
With Rog's new insurance, he had to join the Farm Bureau, I have no idea why, but he did. He got the newsletter in the mail & it has an article about an upcoming sale on plants ... YEE HAAA. I can't wait to get my hands in the dirt!
Rog & I were sitting out in the beautiful night air on Saturday and we were talking about getting a water fountain to add to our back garden. I told him he should make one out of an old coffee urn, and pots & pans ... he said I was crazy, but then said ... YUP he was going to try to build my vision. And all this was with out any alcohol on my part .
I miss my son. I know he is less then 600 miles away at this point, but all too soon he will be half way around the world again. There is some good news on Chris ... they are sending him to Texas for around a month for some additional training. It will be two separate classes. Hopefully, they will be able to squeeze in his training to get his SGT stripe before he leaves for Iraq. I also hope that Rog & I will be able to go visit him down in Nashville before he leaves. It has been quite awhile since Rog & I have done a road trip, I wonder if that is a good thing
The 17th I am going with my sister to go see my new nephew. I am so excited!! I love babies, there is just something so wonderful about a babies smell.
Well, since I haven't had any time to talk to my friends about how to get pictures & such on here... I will close for now.

Spring is here!!!

You just have to love spring in Chicagoland ... ok you don't, but it is always surprising! Last week we had almost 90 degree weather, the week before we had a snow storm, today we woke to frost on the windshields of the cars. Makes me wonder why I haven't fled south of the Mason-Dixon line. I was definitly born on the wrong side of it!
One of the things I truely love to do, no matter what the weather, is window shopping. I have several friends that have wonderful shops on a website called Etsy. I can while away hours looking at all the hand/home made items there. I have purchased several items there ... much to my hubby's dismay as he has been trying to break me of my "see & spend" ways .... I have become best friends with some of the operators at QVC & HSN on the over night shift .
One of my dear friends for years has a shop on Etsy, here is the link http://www.etsy.com/shop/ablastfromthepast
Yellow Bracelet - Here Comes The Sun...
by: ablastfromthepast
and the second link is to one of my fave pieces she has made. It is a fun & funky shop, be sure to stop by & check her out! I wish I could figure out how to post pictures on this blog, but since this is my first attempt at this ... I am hoping you will follow the link.
I will ask some of the people who are much smarter then me about this stuff & get back to giving you some more window shopping to do.
For now I will close ... but be sure I will return