Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Family Time

It's been quite awhile since I blogged but time either stands still or rushes by at the same time.  We've been busy but I can't put a finger on exactly what we've been doing without looking at our appointment calender.
I know we saw a lawyer and made out wills and power of attorneys.  We got hair cuts and I got pedicures and manicures and saw the eye doctor.  Both of us need upgrades on or left lenses.  We had a burglar alarm installed in the house which will make us feel better while we're not home.  We even got the neighbor across the street and a grandson signed up and ready to be key holders when necessary.
This past week end we traveled north to Brown Deer, WI (Milwaukee) with the new truck.  The ride wasn't to bad, it seems to be getting better the more miles he puts on it or I'm getting used to it.  All in all he has managed to tone down the smell of new leather, which was one of my main problems.
We stopped at the outlet mall in Pleasant Prairie on the way up but didn't really find anything plus the place was packed with shoppers getting that 30 % discount.
Friday afternoon travel thru the south side of Milwaukee was a bit slow due to the construction.  Yes, IL is finished with it's construction on the Tri State, now Wisconsin has taken over.  The traffic did keep moving so it wasn't to bad with the aid of the GPS and it's knowledge of new traffic patterns resulting from the construction, we made if pretty quickly.
Friday evening we met up with Mike and Kim and their sons and Keith and Linnea at a German Supper Club, for lack of a better word.  It's a huge bar and restaurant on a even bigger tract of land filled with parked cars.  We in this instance is Ron, his brother, John, John's wife, Pat, and Me.  The menu was all you can eat fish and chicken fry.  Huge pieces of cod lightly breaded and cooked till just done with small pieces of chicken fried to perfection and a choice of potato but no choice in salad, cold slaw, good cold slaw tho, the creamy kind.  I ate my two pieces of fish and two pieces of chicken and was so full I couldn't eat any more.  RATS.
Saturday was a cook out at Mike and Kim's house.  Brats and hamburgers were made on the grill with four different types of salad and baked beans.  I did something I've never done before.  I ate two hamburgers they were so good.  After the men all got done ogling Ron's truck we took off for the ball park to watch the Brewers beat the Cubs by way of a bar some where between there and there.  For the price of an adult beverage, which you could take with, you got a ride on a shuttle bus to Miller Park and dropped off right in front of the field.  That also entitled us to a ride back the same way so none of us had to deal with the traffic.  Despite the Cub loss, we still had a good time.  The picture above is John, Pat, Me, Ron, Mike and Kim.  Keith and Linnea met friends and sat on the other side of the field.
We did make the mistake of staying a little longer than we should have Sunday afternoon but John and Ron had gone looking at guns and Pat and I had gone shoe shopping so the trip southbound on the Tri State was a little crowded considering the baseball game had ended just before we left.
We made it home safe a sound with a stop for supper on the way.  That's another story for another time.   

Monday, August 8, 2011

Lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer.

Life in the midwest is just that....middle ground.  It's been hot and humid so most of our life has revolved around either staying inside where it's cool, if the electricity isn't out, or going to the air conditioned car to the air conditioned store.  Been talking to a dozen of my best friends from Cactus Country on Facebook.  That's been a nice way to keep up with the goings on.  Because quite a few of the people there are an older generation than us, we've been losing some every year either to death or illness forcing them to move.  This year we've lost one due to bad health and two have departed.  I wasn't familiar with one of the deceased but everyone in the park knew Fred Imus, aka that radio guy Don Imus's brother.  He was our claim to fame, so to speak.  He had an old truck and older dog named "Dear John" and I didn't know where he went everyday when he drove by on his way out of the park but I did know he bought bales of hay for the free range cows that lived around the outside of the park.  I'm sure that hay was much better eating than the cacti they lived on normally.
Today was our youngest grandchild's 13th birthday.  She's off with her parents and brother on vacation but we did text her happy birthday.
Today was also a good rain day, now Ron will have to mow the lawn.  It did cool things off a bit and I was  able to set outside for awhile and read, one of my favorite things to do.