Veeeery old house in Salem, Massachusetts.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Boston in Photos and Few Words :)
Here is the view from the trail we walked along on Saturday afternoon after having a delicious seafood lunch in Ogonquit, Maine!
Boston in Photos and Few Words :)
Cool face that greets patrons at the Tamarind Bay restaurant Jules treated Blingmama to for Mother's Day!
Friday, May 23, 2008
More Trip Stuff
Well, here I am, back at my own little desk in Geneva, reminiscing about my days in Boston - already it's getting a bit foggy for me, so I thought I should put it all down before it totally flies out of my birdlike skull! I left off on Sunday, so I will take it up again right there.
After my last post, Miss Jules and I took paper in hand, and traipsed around the area looking at various open houses. What an interesting mix of places to be seen! :) There were several that were pretty interesting, and one that I absolutely loved - a place above a small restaurant right around the corner from 36 Appleton! It had gorgeous bay windows and a large living area, as well as a beautiful master bedroom. The downside was the nearly nonexistent second bedroom - barely large enough to be a VERY small study - no room for the guest bed.....sigh. It was a corner unit and had windows on all three sides, so there was soooooo much wonderful natural light!
Another pretty nice place was on two floors, just like Julie and Scott's current place. It had THREE bedrooms, which was very nice, but the kitchen was kind of dreary and claustrophobic (gee, Blingmama, tell us what you REALLY think! :))
The third decent place was newly rehabbed, and the kitchen was to die for - as large and fab as any you would find in the 'burbs......granite and stainless steel and gorgeous cabinets, oh my! AND it came with its own parking space - worth its weight in gold! BUT it had a strange stepdown foyer, and a VERY odd little hump in the floor right near the kitchen.
The rest of the places were absolutively, positively HORRENDOUS! It's hard to believe that people actually PAY to live in such dumps, and pay through the nose! And beside the floor plans and decor being horrible, they were a MESS! Amazing to think that people are so sure their place will sell that they don't even pick up their dirty dishes in the sink or their piles of clothes in the bedrooms........must be nice!
We finally gave up looking and went for lunch at Legal Seafoods! YUMMY! Jules had a delicious (so she said) fish stew with a few pieces of sausage in it, and I had a (what else?) pasta dish with shrimp! (It was the third day in a row for seafood for me - I was definitely living it up! The previous day in Ogonquit I had a wonderful lobster roll for lunch....)
Then we hopped into the car for a drive around the Boston 'burbs! I got to see Boston College - lovely campus - and Wellesley, and a few other suburbs whose names have slipped my mind. We drove through Brookline on our way west, and came back another, more northerly, route. All in all, quite an interesting day.
After a little bit of time back at 36 Appleton, we mosied over to the movie theater to see Maid of Honor! Too sweet! A similar storyline to My Best Friend's Wedding, but with a MUCH more satisfactory ending......That Patrick Dempsey is just amazing to watch. sigh. :)
Let's see.........Monday morning it was off to Salem! Not a far drive from the city at all, and sooooo charming. Again, there were houses of different colors, and the red line keeping tourists on the path to see all of the scenic sights. There are a lot of "museums" for which you must pay, but we limited ourselves to just wandering around the gift areas of those establishments. Lots and lots of interesting books to be found there. Had I another whole suitcase with me, I could have filled it with all of the interesting tomes on Salem's past.
We stopped for a bit (it was a tad chilly that day) for something warm to drink at a cute little coffee shop. Across the street was a fascinating yarn shop WHICH WAS NOT OPEN on Mondays! In fact, there were many shops in Salem that were not open on Mondays, so I would advise anyone planning to visit NEVER to go on a MONDAY!
Miss Jules snapped some great pictures of sights in Salem! (Does everyone know that she is taking a photography class - digital - currently? She's already learned a great deal about the proper way to balance her pictures - way to go, Julie!) Hopefully she will download them and send them along soon (hint, hint).
We got back to the city pretty much before rush hour, and then it was park the car, walk back to 36 Appleton, freshen up, and trot off to a yummy Mexican dinner (was it the Cactus Club?) for my last night in Boston.......It was right near the Berklee School of Music, so the prices were really great. Julie and I each devoured our whole plate of food - could not stop ourselves, it was just sooooo delicious. And we each enjoyed a very nice margarita as well!
A short walk back to Appleton street, and it was time for me to make sure that I had most of my things packed up for the morning......Julie had to go to work on Tuesday morning to help interview a prospective new hire, and I was on my own to get to the airport - equipped with several phone numbers for cab companies, and a GREAT backup plan for where to find cabs in the immediate vicinity should the cab company not send the requested cab! Julie is NOTHING if not well prepared! :)
My cab driver was a very sweet little guy from Somalia. I learned that his family lived in Maine because they did not like big cities, but that he has lived in Boston for four years. He was a bit difficult to understand, but if I listened VERY carefully, I could make out what he was telling me.
I did arrive at the airport about two hours before my flight, but that was okay - I sat and knitted and read a bit more of my book that I had been afraid I would finish too early in the trip (LOL) and watched some news on the big TV in front of me - lots of political crap. How annoying!
My flight was delayed about twenty minutes leaving, but we were pretty much on time for arrival at O'Hare. The pilot on the flight was a woman, something I had not really thought about previously, but it was kind of cool. And a flight attendant on the flight back was one that I had traveled with on the way to Boston - somewhat comforting for me, being the bit apprehensive traveler that I WAS!!!!! (Note the past tense there......)
I sat next to another interesting person (I was in the middle for both flights) who had flown to Boston from Sacramento for her second date with someone she met on eHarmony. Of course, I had to share my stories with her of long distance relationships (Julie and Scott, and Rebecca and Richard) and people who meet online (Aimee and Matt) to give her hope that this guy who seems to be wonderful might actually turn out to BE wonderful! LOL
In any event, in two short hours, I was back in Chicago! Grandma Marian picked me up and off we went! It is astounding that in only double the amount of time it takes to drive from O'Hare to our house, we can fly one thousand miles and be in Boston!
Blingdaddy is feeling much better now, and although I LOVED my trip east, it is nice to be back home in the bosom of my family. I think that Tommy Boy missed me a little........and Payton informed me that he likes Grandma Lois better than me, but that I'm second......hahahaha
Today is a half day for Tommy, and I will be picking up Paytie from school in a bit. Alene was with me yesterday for the last time since it was her final day of school. I got to see Kirsten - what a little angel she is. Looking forward to taking care of the two of them in August when Jean goes back to teaching. (And the extra MONEY! :) )
Well, it's the start of a three day weekend. Hopefully, at least a little bit of the weekend will see the sun shining (it's rained a bit here this morning). I do not want to be rained out of my walk! Since walking around for five days in the Boston area, I feel totally energized, and have made it a goal to walk around the neighborhood at least five times a week. I did circle the subdivision the other day in an hour - I think it's four miles. VERY proud of myself! Also, that Blister Block that Miss Jules turned me on to in Boston is a HUGE help! I just slathered it all over the bottom of my feet, and away I went! (It's made by Band Aid, in case anyone else is interested.....)
Last night I could not walk due to helping dear Thomas on a homework assignment from Hell for his science class! Yikes! We even called in Kelly for a bit to help with the biome stuff. SOOOOOO glad that assignment is turned in, but a bit skeered of the outcome.....we guessed on a lot of the stuff that we just could NOT figure out! Oh, well, at this point, he has a pretty solid "A" going in that class - hopefully one assignment that might be less than "A" work will not bring the whole grade tumbling down to the next level.....
This is Blingmama signing off before you all go blind from reading.......
After my last post, Miss Jules and I took paper in hand, and traipsed around the area looking at various open houses. What an interesting mix of places to be seen! :) There were several that were pretty interesting, and one that I absolutely loved - a place above a small restaurant right around the corner from 36 Appleton! It had gorgeous bay windows and a large living area, as well as a beautiful master bedroom. The downside was the nearly nonexistent second bedroom - barely large enough to be a VERY small study - no room for the guest bed.....sigh. It was a corner unit and had windows on all three sides, so there was soooooo much wonderful natural light!
Another pretty nice place was on two floors, just like Julie and Scott's current place. It had THREE bedrooms, which was very nice, but the kitchen was kind of dreary and claustrophobic (gee, Blingmama, tell us what you REALLY think! :))
The third decent place was newly rehabbed, and the kitchen was to die for - as large and fab as any you would find in the 'burbs......granite and stainless steel and gorgeous cabinets, oh my! AND it came with its own parking space - worth its weight in gold! BUT it had a strange stepdown foyer, and a VERY odd little hump in the floor right near the kitchen.
The rest of the places were absolutively, positively HORRENDOUS! It's hard to believe that people actually PAY to live in such dumps, and pay through the nose! And beside the floor plans and decor being horrible, they were a MESS! Amazing to think that people are so sure their place will sell that they don't even pick up their dirty dishes in the sink or their piles of clothes in the bedrooms........must be nice!
We finally gave up looking and went for lunch at Legal Seafoods! YUMMY! Jules had a delicious (so she said) fish stew with a few pieces of sausage in it, and I had a (what else?) pasta dish with shrimp! (It was the third day in a row for seafood for me - I was definitely living it up! The previous day in Ogonquit I had a wonderful lobster roll for lunch....)
Then we hopped into the car for a drive around the Boston 'burbs! I got to see Boston College - lovely campus - and Wellesley, and a few other suburbs whose names have slipped my mind. We drove through Brookline on our way west, and came back another, more northerly, route. All in all, quite an interesting day.
After a little bit of time back at 36 Appleton, we mosied over to the movie theater to see Maid of Honor! Too sweet! A similar storyline to My Best Friend's Wedding, but with a MUCH more satisfactory ending......That Patrick Dempsey is just amazing to watch. sigh. :)
Let's see.........Monday morning it was off to Salem! Not a far drive from the city at all, and sooooo charming. Again, there were houses of different colors, and the red line keeping tourists on the path to see all of the scenic sights. There are a lot of "museums" for which you must pay, but we limited ourselves to just wandering around the gift areas of those establishments. Lots and lots of interesting books to be found there. Had I another whole suitcase with me, I could have filled it with all of the interesting tomes on Salem's past.
We stopped for a bit (it was a tad chilly that day) for something warm to drink at a cute little coffee shop. Across the street was a fascinating yarn shop WHICH WAS NOT OPEN on Mondays! In fact, there were many shops in Salem that were not open on Mondays, so I would advise anyone planning to visit NEVER to go on a MONDAY!
Miss Jules snapped some great pictures of sights in Salem! (Does everyone know that she is taking a photography class - digital - currently? She's already learned a great deal about the proper way to balance her pictures - way to go, Julie!) Hopefully she will download them and send them along soon (hint, hint).
We got back to the city pretty much before rush hour, and then it was park the car, walk back to 36 Appleton, freshen up, and trot off to a yummy Mexican dinner (was it the Cactus Club?) for my last night in Boston.......It was right near the Berklee School of Music, so the prices were really great. Julie and I each devoured our whole plate of food - could not stop ourselves, it was just sooooo delicious. And we each enjoyed a very nice margarita as well!
A short walk back to Appleton street, and it was time for me to make sure that I had most of my things packed up for the morning......Julie had to go to work on Tuesday morning to help interview a prospective new hire, and I was on my own to get to the airport - equipped with several phone numbers for cab companies, and a GREAT backup plan for where to find cabs in the immediate vicinity should the cab company not send the requested cab! Julie is NOTHING if not well prepared! :)
My cab driver was a very sweet little guy from Somalia. I learned that his family lived in Maine because they did not like big cities, but that he has lived in Boston for four years. He was a bit difficult to understand, but if I listened VERY carefully, I could make out what he was telling me.
I did arrive at the airport about two hours before my flight, but that was okay - I sat and knitted and read a bit more of my book that I had been afraid I would finish too early in the trip (LOL) and watched some news on the big TV in front of me - lots of political crap. How annoying!
My flight was delayed about twenty minutes leaving, but we were pretty much on time for arrival at O'Hare. The pilot on the flight was a woman, something I had not really thought about previously, but it was kind of cool. And a flight attendant on the flight back was one that I had traveled with on the way to Boston - somewhat comforting for me, being the bit apprehensive traveler that I WAS!!!!! (Note the past tense there......)
I sat next to another interesting person (I was in the middle for both flights) who had flown to Boston from Sacramento for her second date with someone she met on eHarmony. Of course, I had to share my stories with her of long distance relationships (Julie and Scott, and Rebecca and Richard) and people who meet online (Aimee and Matt) to give her hope that this guy who seems to be wonderful might actually turn out to BE wonderful! LOL
In any event, in two short hours, I was back in Chicago! Grandma Marian picked me up and off we went! It is astounding that in only double the amount of time it takes to drive from O'Hare to our house, we can fly one thousand miles and be in Boston!
Blingdaddy is feeling much better now, and although I LOVED my trip east, it is nice to be back home in the bosom of my family. I think that Tommy Boy missed me a little........and Payton informed me that he likes Grandma Lois better than me, but that I'm second......hahahaha
Today is a half day for Tommy, and I will be picking up Paytie from school in a bit. Alene was with me yesterday for the last time since it was her final day of school. I got to see Kirsten - what a little angel she is. Looking forward to taking care of the two of them in August when Jean goes back to teaching. (And the extra MONEY! :) )
Well, it's the start of a three day weekend. Hopefully, at least a little bit of the weekend will see the sun shining (it's rained a bit here this morning). I do not want to be rained out of my walk! Since walking around for five days in the Boston area, I feel totally energized, and have made it a goal to walk around the neighborhood at least five times a week. I did circle the subdivision the other day in an hour - I think it's four miles. VERY proud of myself! Also, that Blister Block that Miss Jules turned me on to in Boston is a HUGE help! I just slathered it all over the bottom of my feet, and away I went! (It's made by Band Aid, in case anyone else is interested.....)
Last night I could not walk due to helping dear Thomas on a homework assignment from Hell for his science class! Yikes! We even called in Kelly for a bit to help with the biome stuff. SOOOOOO glad that assignment is turned in, but a bit skeered of the outcome.....we guessed on a lot of the stuff that we just could NOT figure out! Oh, well, at this point, he has a pretty solid "A" going in that class - hopefully one assignment that might be less than "A" work will not bring the whole grade tumbling down to the next level.....
This is Blingmama signing off before you all go blind from reading.......
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Boston Update :)
Greetings from the lovely city of Boston!
It has been a wonderful trip so far, and I am quite sure that the rest of my days here will be just as happy. Waking at 3:15 AM was a piece of cake, and the limo ride to the airport was quite entertaining, between the limo driver and the couple from Geneva I rode with (who, BTW, were on their way to a destination wedding in Playa del Carmen!). I had no time to think about being frightened of what was ahead of me (AIR TRAVEL)........It was amazing how many travelers were at O'Hare at five o'clock in the morning!
The flight to Boston was great - much shorter than I had anticipated - I believe we had a tail wind or something - either that or we were going over the speed limit! hahaha Landing at Logan is really cool - lots of islands in the bay make the topography quite interesting. I sat between two fun people on the plane, although I didn't really have too much conversation with the woman on my left until about the last twenty minutes or so. (She was from Honolulu.)
Julie met me at the baggage claim, and we were off! Lots of walking around on Thursday - had some lunch at Au Bon Pain in the building where Julie works. The soup there was delicious - had some Lentil Curry soup, and I believe Miss Jules had some chicken noodle..............
After walking back to 36 Appleton, I napped a bit, having been up since the wee hours at that point, and Julie busied herself with laudry and ironing.
Then we walked over to Scott's building and I got to see his office on the 24th floor. Wow! He gets to look out at the harbor all day long. Lucky duck! :) The head of the deer he hunted in Texas is mounted in his office - very handsome looking. I got to meet Paul, and also see the lovely new piece of exercise equipment in the office which Scott tried out the next day.
From there, we took the T to Cambridge, where Julie treated me to a Mother's Day dinner at an intersting Indian cuisine restaurant called the Tamarind Seed.......unfortunately, Julie had not shared with me that Indian food invariably makes her feel sick. (She told me this after we were sitting down and had placed our drink order......) We tried valiantly to make sure that nothing she ate contained nuts (I guess a lot of Indian cuisine does contain them) but she still felt mildly ill for a while that night.
We took a cab back, which was another interesting experience. From Scott's office, all of Boston looks quite small (he pointed out where Tom lives from the window), but when you are on the T or in a cab, it all seems quite LARGE! :)
Friday was a trip to the Natick Mall, shopping for something to wear for me for the wedding - success! I did find something that Julie approved of. Now I just need shoes.......GREEN shoes.......
Friday night Tom and his girlfriend Ashley were supposed to come over for a lobster grilling, but he was sick and stayed home from work, so they didn't come. We enjoyed the lobsters that Scott grilled (with the help of Miss Jules - it was raining and an umbrella was needed). QUITE tasty.
Saturday morning was a Skype session with Rebecca in Sweden - how amazing to think that we could see her in Richard's apartment halfway around the world, and she could see us! She is having a wonderful time in Sweden, and invited me to come at some future point....hahaha
Then it was off to the car for a drive to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and then on to Kennebunkport, Maine! We actually ate in a little town called Ogonquit right on the water! Look it up on Google Maps if you would like to pinpoint the exact location. There was a little path along the sea, kind of like the Cliffwalk in Newport, and we took a short stroll. Miss Jules snapped a number of neat pictures that she will share!
Last night when we returned we ate pasta around the TV and then watched a kind of bloody movie (but interesting) called The Kingdom (starring Jamie Foxx).
Scott left this morning for a trip to San Francisco, and won't be back until Wednesday. I have had a little time on the computer, and hence am updating you all a bit. :) Today Julie and I plan on visiting some open houses in the area and then taking a ride to some of the pretty suburbs so I can get a better feel for suburban life in Boston.......
Not sure what the rest of the trip holds. I am soooooo sorry that Blingdaddy is feeling so sick and I am not there to take care of him. Hopefully, his dear mother will be checking in to make sure he has everything he needs, and, of course, Miss Kel and Dear Tommy will be helping their father in every way.
Oh, and HUGE congrats to MISS KELLY for making the DEAN'S LIST yet AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO, Kel!
Signing off for now!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
She's Ba-ack! :)
Well, Miss Kel and I are back from Urbana in one piece, thank You very much! It was the best "packing up" EVER for moi! Since there were absolutely, positively, NO parking spaces available, I needed to stay with the vehicle, circling around, stopping every now and then for Kelly and her three friends to put things in, with NO carrying or running up stairs for Blingmama AT ALL! Thank you to Kelly's friends Kristy (sorry if that's spelled wrong - I just can't remember all the permutations of names these days), Mallory, and Remington!
The packing up took about an hour or so, then Miss Kel and I were off to have some lunch at the Chinese place before heading back. Wonderfully uneventful drive back, no more rain! When we arrived at home, Tommy Boy was on hand to help with the unloading (with a little bit of basketball thrown in for a nice mix) and now we are settling in for a wonderful summer!
Blingdaddy stayed home today - not feeling too chipper - bad throat and losing his voice at times. It was nice to not have to rush back to pick him up at the train, so even though I am sorry he's not feeling his best, it was good that he was home for Tommy, etc.! Hopefully, that ole' frog will NOT be making his appearance tomorrow!
Looking forward to seeing Miss Jules this weekend for Steph's shower - must go purchase gift that we are all going in on together tomorrow! Knives!
The packing up took about an hour or so, then Miss Kel and I were off to have some lunch at the Chinese place before heading back. Wonderfully uneventful drive back, no more rain! When we arrived at home, Tommy Boy was on hand to help with the unloading (with a little bit of basketball thrown in for a nice mix) and now we are settling in for a wonderful summer!
Blingdaddy stayed home today - not feeling too chipper - bad throat and losing his voice at times. It was nice to not have to rush back to pick him up at the train, so even though I am sorry he's not feeling his best, it was good that he was home for Tommy, etc.! Hopefully, that ole' frog will NOT be making his appearance tomorrow!
Looking forward to seeing Miss Jules this weekend for Steph's shower - must go purchase gift that we are all going in on together tomorrow! Knives!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
'Twas the Night Before Kelly Comes Home for the Summer.......
I have just finished quizzing Tom on his Language Arts vocab for a quiz tomorrow, and am watching a bit of fashion on the Q.........tomorrow at 8:00 AM I am off to Urbana to pick up Our Kel from College for the summer. It is supposed to rain. Phooey. I really do not enjoy carrying things out to the car and loading it up in the rain.......I don't believe that Kelly enjoys it, either. Hopefully, the gods of car packing will be looking upon us with favor tomorrow, and a spot of sunshine will open up over ISR from about eleven to two!
The Princess House party went off quite nicely on Sunday afternoon. We had an unexpected guest arrive at the last minute - there were five of us, and I ended up getting a nice amount of "free credit" to shop with. Looking forward to receiving my new loot in a few weeks. The new neighbor, Patty, booked a show for June 1st, so I will be going to her house that day to be able to order anything from the catalogue my little heart desires for half price. Woo hoo!
Paytie got a haircut over the weekend - at first he looked very odd to me, but now I think his new "do" is quite cute! The shorter hair really makes his beautiful eyes the focus of his face. Somehow with longer hair, this is not the case.
The luncheon on Friday was very, very fun! The guest speaker was entertaining and informative. She owns a business helping women define their style of dress, dress in the "correct" colors, etc. Suzie Wendorf has been consulting with her. She said that most women need to have their clothes altered, and that even though this process is not cheap, it is very worth it in the long run, especially when you consider the fact that many of your clothes last you ten years or more.
And the Arlington Park event on Saturday was also a lot of fun, although there was a lot of standing around (and in heels!). There was a very sad note, though, with the injury of the horse who came in second at the finish line. I was talking to a woman who needed to leave the room for a while when she heard the news. I guess she is a huge animal lover. While I think it is sweet for people to be so concerned over animals, sometimes I am frustrated that people appear to have more concern for animals than they do for humans. Something is wrong with this picture.
Yesterday I took Paytie to visit his school for the fall - Richmond School - for a little Story Time with the Principal. The current principal is a sixty-ish woman who is retiring next month, and the new principal is a thirty-ish man. When we were walking towards the school, Payton kind of held back and said, "Grandma, I'm afraid........" I asked him why he was afraid, and he said, "Well, you know, the principal is going to be there.......what if I'm a bad boy? I don't want to get in trouble....." I told him that he would not be getting in trouble. When all of the kids were gathered for the story, I stood off to the side watching. It was all just sooo adorable. The kids went around introducing themselves, telling their first names. When it came time for Payton to say his name, I don't think the principal understood him the first time, so he repeated his name, saying "Payton...............Allen Fischer". He sat very quietly and attentively while the principal read a stupid story about a cat. I think it is a good thing that she is retiring. She seemed to be a tad impatient with small children. She did say she was retiring to spend time with her grandchildren. Poor them.
I am getting very excited for my trip to Boston, although I am feeling very guilty about leaving everyone here to fend for themselves for five whole days......hopefully, everyone will get along just fine without Blingmama for a bit! Grandma M and Grandma L have both offered to help, and I am certainly going to take them up on their offers.
Well, I must be off to sleep soon. Long day of drivin and totin tomorrow!
TTFN
The Princess House party went off quite nicely on Sunday afternoon. We had an unexpected guest arrive at the last minute - there were five of us, and I ended up getting a nice amount of "free credit" to shop with. Looking forward to receiving my new loot in a few weeks. The new neighbor, Patty, booked a show for June 1st, so I will be going to her house that day to be able to order anything from the catalogue my little heart desires for half price. Woo hoo!
Paytie got a haircut over the weekend - at first he looked very odd to me, but now I think his new "do" is quite cute! The shorter hair really makes his beautiful eyes the focus of his face. Somehow with longer hair, this is not the case.
The luncheon on Friday was very, very fun! The guest speaker was entertaining and informative. She owns a business helping women define their style of dress, dress in the "correct" colors, etc. Suzie Wendorf has been consulting with her. She said that most women need to have their clothes altered, and that even though this process is not cheap, it is very worth it in the long run, especially when you consider the fact that many of your clothes last you ten years or more.
And the Arlington Park event on Saturday was also a lot of fun, although there was a lot of standing around (and in heels!). There was a very sad note, though, with the injury of the horse who came in second at the finish line. I was talking to a woman who needed to leave the room for a while when she heard the news. I guess she is a huge animal lover. While I think it is sweet for people to be so concerned over animals, sometimes I am frustrated that people appear to have more concern for animals than they do for humans. Something is wrong with this picture.
Yesterday I took Paytie to visit his school for the fall - Richmond School - for a little Story Time with the Principal. The current principal is a sixty-ish woman who is retiring next month, and the new principal is a thirty-ish man. When we were walking towards the school, Payton kind of held back and said, "Grandma, I'm afraid........" I asked him why he was afraid, and he said, "Well, you know, the principal is going to be there.......what if I'm a bad boy? I don't want to get in trouble....." I told him that he would not be getting in trouble. When all of the kids were gathered for the story, I stood off to the side watching. It was all just sooo adorable. The kids went around introducing themselves, telling their first names. When it came time for Payton to say his name, I don't think the principal understood him the first time, so he repeated his name, saying "Payton...............Allen Fischer". He sat very quietly and attentively while the principal read a stupid story about a cat. I think it is a good thing that she is retiring. She seemed to be a tad impatient with small children. She did say she was retiring to spend time with her grandchildren. Poor them.
I am getting very excited for my trip to Boston, although I am feeling very guilty about leaving everyone here to fend for themselves for five whole days......hopefully, everyone will get along just fine without Blingmama for a bit! Grandma M and Grandma L have both offered to help, and I am certainly going to take them up on their offers.
Well, I must be off to sleep soon. Long day of drivin and totin tomorrow!
TTFN
Thursday, May 1, 2008
New Haircut
Well, here is a shot of my new haircut! Doesn't look a whole lot different from the "old" haircut, but it IS a whole lot shorter - I could tell that Blingdaddy was a bit nervous about it this morning - he couldn't stop commenting on how much shorter it was than "before cut" - well, you would have to see the back to see just how short it really is, but for those who won't be seeing me for a while, here it is - ta da!
Yes, Kathryn, I do know that I am not smiling. :)
Happy, Happy May!
Today is a lovely spring day in Chicagoland! Happy Birthday to cousin Jenny! She is 22 today.
Last week was quite a busy one, but happily so. Kelly arrived home on Thursday night around 8:00 PM, and Blingdaddy, Tom, and I picked her up at Oakbrook and then proceeded to Qdoba in Downers Grove to nosh on some yummy Mexican fare. I highly recommend the Tortilla Soup, and Tom is just in love with the Vegetarian Burrito! Kelly is partial to the Naked Burrito, although she did go with Tom's choice on Thursday. Blingdaddy had a yummy Chicken Burrito, I believe, but I must confess I did not pay attention too closely to the meat order! :)
On Friday night, Julie and Scott arrived, although not without some drama. Cousin Tom also flew in from Boston that night, but he arrived later than they did, even though he was supposed to arrive several hours before them, due to some nasty Chicago rain, mixed with snow, mixed with WIND! Kate had arranged to pick up J & S at O'Hare, but when it turned out that they were arriving some time after midnight, she asked me if I would do the honors. Kelly and I picked them up around 12:45 AM, and Cousin Tom arrived about an hour after that - Auntie Renee met him and they both went directly to Grandma Marian's to spend what was left of the night.......
Bright and early on Saturday morning, we were all up (well, some of us were up, I guess). The guys (Blingdaddy, Scott, and Tommy) went to breakfast together at Kathy's Diner, while Miss Jules worked away on her gift to Grandma Marian (a pretty pink apron, lovingly stitched with her own two little hands, and a bit of help from the good ole' sewing machine). I slept in a bit - you know that I need lots and LOTS of beauty sleep these days to look even remotely presentable.............Kel Bel also slept in a bit - she was recovering from all that College Stress....
Then it was off to Grandma M.'s fete at Cantigny. Auntie Renee did a fabulous job of organizing everything, and the room was lovely. The pansy centerpieces that I had made up on Friday were not needed, so Grandma ended up taking them home and I believe they are now gracing her deck. The poster/collage of pictures from various stages in her life were displayed on an easel at the entrance to the room, and I must say that Aimee did a beautiful job arranging them all in an artistic manner! At the last minute, Blingdaddy had the idea to put the poster in a frame, thereby rendering it suitable for placement on a wall in Grandma M.'s house at a later date. Great idea, Blingdaddy! :)
Fifty five guests showed up to honor Grandma's 80th birthday. Blingdaddy also had the idea for everyone in the room to get up and introduce themselves before brunch was served. It was very entertaining, and quite touching. Grandma M. sat there with tears in her eyes for much of it, but they were GOOD tears, of course!
The view of the golf course from the party room was beautiful - what a great (and GREEN) time of year to have a party there. Brady was especially fascinated by someone with a kayak doing a bit of boating in the water outside the picture windows. Poor little Brady had an allergy incident a bit later along in the party timetable and ended up at the Children's ER at Central DuPage Hospital for quite a while that day.
Kate, Brent, and two voices from the Chicago Chamber Choir serenaded Grandma M. with some beautifully sung songs right before dessert - they did a remarkable job, especially considering the fact that they had only rehearsed together once - earlier that morning! Brent had to leave right after the brunch to return to Augustana for an opera he was performing in later that evening. What a sweetie to drive so many miles to sing for Grandma's party! :)
It appears that, even though Cindy was uber-careful, and requested the ingredient list from every item of food her children were served, somehow Brady ended up eating sorbet that had been contaminated with milk. He did not break out in hives, but went right to the respiratory symptoms of coughing and wheezing. He received epinephrine and a nebulizer treatment in the ER, and needed to stay there for observation until nearly midnight. Quite the cap to Grandma's 80th birthday celebration!
Which leads us all to wonder about Tommy and Kelly's lack of reaction to eating the sorbet........are they less sensitive than Brady at this point? Are they totally free of a dairy allergy at this point? I guess the only way we will know is through blood tests - hmm....maybe later this summer.........
After Grandma's party, most of the family (Auntie Renee, Cousin Tom, Blingdaddy, Aimee, Matt, Payton, Julie, Scott, Kate, Kelly, Tommy, and I) all traipsed to Grandma's house, to spend the rest of the day with her. It was very nice to be able to sit and chat with Cousin Tom, while the guys watched the football draft (forgive me for not giving it the proper title - I confess to total ignorance regarding anything football).
Julie and Scott stayed with Aimee on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning, the gang from Aimee's house came over with some breakfast sandwiches from Dunkin Donuts (and a few donut holes for Paytie to enjoy), and we had a nice, relaxing morning at the BlingMansion. Julie had tasked Kelly with finding some music for the wedding ceremony, and the "girls" retired to Kelly's room to listen to her choices on ITunes, while the "boys" played Guitar Hero in Tommy's room.
Before we knew it, it was time to take Kelly back to Oakbrook to get on the bus that would take her back to Urbana. Blingdaddy and I did the honors, while Aimee departed for a three hour long spin class (a portion of which she taught), Matt and Paytie went home, and Julie, Scott, Tommy and Kate went bowling at FunWay.
Kelly will be home a week from yesterday for the summer! YAY! This year has gone by ridiculously quickly, and she is nearly halfway through her college experience. It's amazing.
Aimee, Kate, and Julie took Scott to the airport for his return to Boston on Sunday night, and then dropped Julie off back at the BlingMansion for the night. Monday was a return to the regular routine for most of us, but Julie and I had a nice morning shopping for fabric and a pattern for the flower girl dress that Prue will be wearing on August 1st. It was great to have Julie along, because I really was loath to pick out the style and fabric by myself. Now I need to get cracking on the lovely cream-colored silk dupioni we chose for the dress, and the pretty lavender sash that will finish the dress.
Julie and I picked up Payton from school at noon on Monday, and proceeded to Panera on North Avenue to meet Aimee for lunch. Such fun! Then we stopped by Serenity for a tour of the office - quite snazzy, that's for sure!
Finally, Payton and I took Miss Jules to O'Hare and the weekend adventure was over! Back to Business as Usual for a bit, although it won't be long before we are caught up in our busy calendar, as you can all see by looking to the right of this post!
TTFN,
Blingmama
Last week was quite a busy one, but happily so. Kelly arrived home on Thursday night around 8:00 PM, and Blingdaddy, Tom, and I picked her up at Oakbrook and then proceeded to Qdoba in Downers Grove to nosh on some yummy Mexican fare. I highly recommend the Tortilla Soup, and Tom is just in love with the Vegetarian Burrito! Kelly is partial to the Naked Burrito, although she did go with Tom's choice on Thursday. Blingdaddy had a yummy Chicken Burrito, I believe, but I must confess I did not pay attention too closely to the meat order! :)
On Friday night, Julie and Scott arrived, although not without some drama. Cousin Tom also flew in from Boston that night, but he arrived later than they did, even though he was supposed to arrive several hours before them, due to some nasty Chicago rain, mixed with snow, mixed with WIND! Kate had arranged to pick up J & S at O'Hare, but when it turned out that they were arriving some time after midnight, she asked me if I would do the honors. Kelly and I picked them up around 12:45 AM, and Cousin Tom arrived about an hour after that - Auntie Renee met him and they both went directly to Grandma Marian's to spend what was left of the night.......
Bright and early on Saturday morning, we were all up (well, some of us were up, I guess). The guys (Blingdaddy, Scott, and Tommy) went to breakfast together at Kathy's Diner, while Miss Jules worked away on her gift to Grandma Marian (a pretty pink apron, lovingly stitched with her own two little hands, and a bit of help from the good ole' sewing machine). I slept in a bit - you know that I need lots and LOTS of beauty sleep these days to look even remotely presentable.............Kel Bel also slept in a bit - she was recovering from all that College Stress....
Then it was off to Grandma M.'s fete at Cantigny. Auntie Renee did a fabulous job of organizing everything, and the room was lovely. The pansy centerpieces that I had made up on Friday were not needed, so Grandma ended up taking them home and I believe they are now gracing her deck. The poster/collage of pictures from various stages in her life were displayed on an easel at the entrance to the room, and I must say that Aimee did a beautiful job arranging them all in an artistic manner! At the last minute, Blingdaddy had the idea to put the poster in a frame, thereby rendering it suitable for placement on a wall in Grandma M.'s house at a later date. Great idea, Blingdaddy! :)
Fifty five guests showed up to honor Grandma's 80th birthday. Blingdaddy also had the idea for everyone in the room to get up and introduce themselves before brunch was served. It was very entertaining, and quite touching. Grandma M. sat there with tears in her eyes for much of it, but they were GOOD tears, of course!
The view of the golf course from the party room was beautiful - what a great (and GREEN) time of year to have a party there. Brady was especially fascinated by someone with a kayak doing a bit of boating in the water outside the picture windows. Poor little Brady had an allergy incident a bit later along in the party timetable and ended up at the Children's ER at Central DuPage Hospital for quite a while that day.
Kate, Brent, and two voices from the Chicago Chamber Choir serenaded Grandma M. with some beautifully sung songs right before dessert - they did a remarkable job, especially considering the fact that they had only rehearsed together once - earlier that morning! Brent had to leave right after the brunch to return to Augustana for an opera he was performing in later that evening. What a sweetie to drive so many miles to sing for Grandma's party! :)
It appears that, even though Cindy was uber-careful, and requested the ingredient list from every item of food her children were served, somehow Brady ended up eating sorbet that had been contaminated with milk. He did not break out in hives, but went right to the respiratory symptoms of coughing and wheezing. He received epinephrine and a nebulizer treatment in the ER, and needed to stay there for observation until nearly midnight. Quite the cap to Grandma's 80th birthday celebration!
Which leads us all to wonder about Tommy and Kelly's lack of reaction to eating the sorbet........are they less sensitive than Brady at this point? Are they totally free of a dairy allergy at this point? I guess the only way we will know is through blood tests - hmm....maybe later this summer.........
After Grandma's party, most of the family (Auntie Renee, Cousin Tom, Blingdaddy, Aimee, Matt, Payton, Julie, Scott, Kate, Kelly, Tommy, and I) all traipsed to Grandma's house, to spend the rest of the day with her. It was very nice to be able to sit and chat with Cousin Tom, while the guys watched the football draft (forgive me for not giving it the proper title - I confess to total ignorance regarding anything football).
Julie and Scott stayed with Aimee on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning, the gang from Aimee's house came over with some breakfast sandwiches from Dunkin Donuts (and a few donut holes for Paytie to enjoy), and we had a nice, relaxing morning at the BlingMansion. Julie had tasked Kelly with finding some music for the wedding ceremony, and the "girls" retired to Kelly's room to listen to her choices on ITunes, while the "boys" played Guitar Hero in Tommy's room.
Before we knew it, it was time to take Kelly back to Oakbrook to get on the bus that would take her back to Urbana. Blingdaddy and I did the honors, while Aimee departed for a three hour long spin class (a portion of which she taught), Matt and Paytie went home, and Julie, Scott, Tommy and Kate went bowling at FunWay.
Kelly will be home a week from yesterday for the summer! YAY! This year has gone by ridiculously quickly, and she is nearly halfway through her college experience. It's amazing.
Aimee, Kate, and Julie took Scott to the airport for his return to Boston on Sunday night, and then dropped Julie off back at the BlingMansion for the night. Monday was a return to the regular routine for most of us, but Julie and I had a nice morning shopping for fabric and a pattern for the flower girl dress that Prue will be wearing on August 1st. It was great to have Julie along, because I really was loath to pick out the style and fabric by myself. Now I need to get cracking on the lovely cream-colored silk dupioni we chose for the dress, and the pretty lavender sash that will finish the dress.
Julie and I picked up Payton from school at noon on Monday, and proceeded to Panera on North Avenue to meet Aimee for lunch. Such fun! Then we stopped by Serenity for a tour of the office - quite snazzy, that's for sure!
Finally, Payton and I took Miss Jules to O'Hare and the weekend adventure was over! Back to Business as Usual for a bit, although it won't be long before we are caught up in our busy calendar, as you can all see by looking to the right of this post!
TTFN,
Blingmama
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