Football, Food and Family

So....before November ends....I need to write one last post.  Looks like November has been a boring month on the blog but really I have just been paddling like a dog trying to keep my head above the water!  I have not forgotten you, so here is one last post of a lot of life and living before we enter "the holidays".

We started our Thanksgiving tour on the Friday before Thanksgiving week with a trip to Notre Dame.  We met Rachel, Matt and Daniel and Christopher in South Bend for a little Notre Dame football.

Daniel and Christopher, tailgating at the Notre Dame game, they are pros!

 The Irish treated us with a win, just barely...and it did not snow...but it was a bit cool!  We walked all over campus several times and were greeted by collegiate traditions everywhere.  It was like being in a stereotypical college movie, I loved it!  We heard the glee club sing outside one building, then we saw "the team" heading into the Basilica for their pre-game quiet time.  We saw the band, lead by the Irish Guard, march through campus and then heard them perform on campus before the game.

The Irish Guard, "step aside, make way!"

  It was a weekend that we had several brushes with celebrity too!  The band Chicago played with the ND band on campus before the game and then again at half time.  We saw a huge long line outside the bookstore and asked what everyone was waiting for and then saw the sign...the recently retired Regis Philbin was inside signing his book!  That was as close as we go to Reeg though, we had a 31/2 year old and a 2 year old with us, even Regis is not worth waiting for with them!

Our brush with celebrity.....

Then at the game, right on the field in front of our seats they introduced Jon Bon Jovi!!  (sorry, no Bon Jovi photo )

We said goodbye to Notre Dame and spent a day and a half in Chicago on our way to Madison.  TJ was working and I was getting into the Christmas spirit on Michigan Ave. with the bustling crowds and the chilly wind in my face surrounded by festive decorations.  The shopping was a bit unsuccessful but it was a nice walk.

On Monday, I picked up our LG and drove to Madison for the rest of the week.  Our LG had some exciting news on the drive....she has a new job in New York City!  A piece of exciting and terrifying news all at once.  I can't wait to visit her in the the Big Apple!

The rest of the week was spent preparing for the Thanksgiving feast, keeping up with the grandsons and watching football.  Pretty much a perfect week.  See?

Did you say jump?  Christopher at swimming lessons.

Daniel aka Mark Spitz at his swimming lessons.  Yes, he can swim!

Pucker up and give me a kiss!

This is what Thanksgiving dinner looks like when you have a fever....so sad....

Feeling better and getting a haircut!

It was haircuts all around, Christopher found it a little hard to sit still for his haircut though so Aunt Kelly helped distract him.

So now we are all back to our lives.  Our visit up north was great fun hanging out with the grandsons and getting to see them in their real lives.  I love just being there in their world.  They are too cute, not that I am biased or anything.  So, I am thankful for grandkids and the time we get to spend together!

Blessings and Curses

I found this post in my archives and thought I'd finally share it with you.  It is something I wrote after a sermon I heard.  It obviously made an impression on me.  Since we have Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I might focus on things I am thankful for in my next couple of posts.  Original right?  Then I found this and thought maybe it would be a good way to get into the right frame of mind to be thankful.  I am thankful for all those who have blessed me in my life.


 Have you blessed someone today or have you cursed someone today? 

A blessing can be as simple as seeing someone and noticing them.  By sincerely paying attention to someone we bless them.  Take time to talk to someone... or even better to listen to someone, it is a blessing. You can be a blessing.   Blessings can be simple... notice someone, give them your time and your attention.  Make someone else feel loved and important.  When a parent takes the time to sit down with a child and read a book for the zillionth time instead of doing something else, it is a blessing.  When you are busy doing "important" things and you stop and take the time to really listen to someone without distraction, it is a blessing.  Blessings feed others.

Curses are not necessarily using those words....you know the ones....they look like this sometimes *#@!*.  When a person pulls out in front of you and you yell at them, curses....    When we judge others without knowing them or what is in their heart, curses.  When someone asks you to do something and you ignore them, curses.  When you tell someone to shut up when you are watching the TV, instead of listening to them, might be a curse.  When you think of yourself and your needs above all else .... curses.  Gossip....curse.  Selfish behavior to the detriment of others....curses.  Curses eat away at our soul and at the souls of others, little by little.

Next time you have a chance to be a blessing or a curse, be a blessing.  Make someone's day, and you will be blessed....and they will be thankful.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night.....

It is only 3:30 in the afternoon but it feels like it is 8:00 at night!  Why is that you ask?  Because it was a dark and stormy night that included vomit, poop, howling wind, things that go bump in the night, nightmares and one sick, lost dog.  I can't make stuff like this up!

The first "real" cool front blew into town last night around midnight.  The wind was blowing, the chimes outside were clanging and the temperatures were dropping.  Around 2:30 in the morning I woke up to the sound of furniture being banged or moved.  Of course, TJ is out of town... perfect.  I bravely got out of bed and see my faithful dog is not in the room to protect me.  She is under the dining room table,  surrounded by poop and vomit!  What is it about dogs that makes them get sick on the nicest rug in the house?  Our entire house is tile or wood floors, could she just get sick on the tile or the wood?  NO!  I cleaned up the mess, sent the dog outside to finish her business, let her back in and we went back to bed, this time with the dog door open for any future "episodes". 

I tossed and turned and tossed and turned while Sadie smacked and licked and smacked and licked , the wind chimes clanged and clanged and the wind howled and howled.  Nobody was sleeping in our house between 3 and 4:30 which was the last time I saw on the clock before I woke up at 6:15. 

When I woke up I looked for Sadie and any other "accidents" in the house.  No accidents and.... no Sadie!  I looked upstairs, downstairs, in every room, even under the dining room table.  I went outside and looked and called and then I saw it... the open gate on the side of the house.  The yard man came yesterday and must have left it open, argh!  So, at 6:30 in the morning, in the dark and the cold (well cool) I walked the neighborhood calling Sadie, then I drove one of our favorite walk routes looking for her but had no luck. 

So....I went and played golf in the tournament I was scheduled to play.  I know....I am a horrible person, but what could I do?  I did leave the gate open and the dog door open just in case she found her way home in the light of day.  We froze on the golf course, 48 degrees, howling wind, everyone's ideal golf weather.  On the 7th hole the vet called and some nice person found Sadie stuck under their fence by her collar and brought her to the vet listed on her dog tags. 

this is the image that came into my head when they told me how they found her.....

The last 2 holes were my best of the round.  Sadie is a bit worse for wear and still hacking and spazzing out so she definitely got into something.  Tonight she will be sleeping behind a gate....on a tile floor....far away from any nice rugs...with the dog door open and the gates securely locked and I will sleep!  I figure bedtime might come early for both of us tonight.  I took those damn chimes down too, I am serious about my sleep tonight!

this is what we are doing now....if only I had some camomile tea