Memorial Day

The Man Cave !

The Rest of the group.

What a wonderful day.  The only thing I would change if I could would have been the air conditioning to not break down but we all survived.  17 great family members to celebrate Memorial Day and welcome our oldest grandson back from Afghanistan.
We did as much as we could before the weekend since Ron's brother, John, and his wife, Pat, were coming down from Milwaukee on Saturday for the weekend.  Had a great pizza at Aurelios on Saturday night.  We'd planned on going to Oakbrook shopping on Sunday but the weather didn't cooperate shopping at an outdoor mall.  The dark skies and ran kept us at home but no damage to our property we were thankful for.
Pat and I did manage to make some progress on our fall cruise.  We booked plane reservations and a hotel for one night, looked at some excursions for each of the ports but decided to wait to book those till we each looked them over again with our spouses.  
Sunday night was dinner at Syls in Rockdale.  Their food always meets high standards and the staff were attentive but not hovering.
Monday morning arrived bright and sunny.  Happy for clear skies and no rain in sight.  A quick breakfast of sweet rolls and coffee and then the work began.  Thanks to John and Pat's help we got the screen room up, beverages iced and the buffet table set before anyone arrived.  The chef cooked some great brats, hot dogs and hamburgers.  Picture taking and baby holding was plentiful.  Met some new girlfriends,  new boyfriends and a new great grand baby.  As stories flew back and for the new members of the family pondered what they had gotten themselves into but seemed to be willing to return someday.  What food left was divided up and sent home but not a lot of that either.  It was a glorious day.  God Bless America

New Toy

Well, I finally got my van back.  Since we ended up not going to Missouri to put flowers on the graves because of the storms between here and there on Wednesday we went truck shopping instead.  I didn't realize the auto industry had rebounded so well that sales personnel don't have to come out of the building to meet up with potential buyers.  Wednesday was a late start so we only went to Dodge, Ford and GM dealer in Joliet.  Parked in front of the buildings and walked to the truck section.  No sales staff and Ron didn't find anything he really liked.  I don't know how he could tell since we could only look thru the windows and read the sticker on the windows.  On the way home we stopped at a different Ford dealer in Plainfield and Ron found a truck he thought he liked.  A salesman didn't come out to us till we were getting ready to leave but he gave Ron some web sights to look up about the new "Ecoboost" engine and offered for us to take a test drive.  It was hot and humid and we had over dressed for the weather so we continued home.  Thursday was an earlier start but headed down to Morris, IL to Greenway Motors.  We have bought quite a few vehicles from our friend Jerry Wicks at Greenway but since he's retired we figured we'd still give them a shot.  Parked right in front of the building where the sales staff sit by the full length windows.  This time it was cold and rainy but we got out and looked thru windows and read stickers and no sales staff.  We walked back to the van and headed to Joliet with a stop at R Place for lunch.  They have good plain food.  It's not a fast food restaurant, it's a truck stop with class.  After a delicious lunch of cheeseburgers and fries we headed back to Plainfield via I-80 but not quite going all the way to Joliet.  Got off in Minooka to avoid all the construction going on on I-80 in Joliet.  Even followed a Will County Sheriff's car.  Don't know what he was doing in Grundy County but he didn't want to go thru Joliet either.
Ended up at Rod Baker Ford in Plainfield and the same salesman was there.  Found the truck and we (Ron) took it for a test drive.  He fell in love, I could tell so we started the dance.  Not to bad, I've had much worse time but they made a couple mistakes early on giving us ammunition we got to use at the end to finalize the deal.  Ron was great and we got a great deal on the truck AND 0 % finance and $500. cash back to add to the deal.
Now my van can take a much deserved rest.  Hopefully in the garage within the next week or so.

Good News Bad News Day

Well, the day started out OK, got better and then started down hill.
Doctor's office called just be fore lunch with our test results.  All of Ron's were fine, surprise.  All but one of mine was fine and it wasn't the LDL/HDL. Triglycerides were my down fall.  I have all the others under control so now I have to figure them out.   
A quick trip to Ikea netted a few things but not the butter bell.  I'm running out of ideas on where to buy one.  We left ours in AZ by mistake.  
Just this evening Ron's son, David, posted on Facebook that his son, Jacob, who just turned 6 yoa, has Juvenal  Diabetes.   We're praying for him and his mom, dad and sisters.

Doctor's Visit II

Today was doctor's visit MD for Ron and I.  My blood pressure was low, for me, and Ron's was high, for him.  So the doctor told me I'm a good girl and he told Ron to lay off the salt and drink more water.  Then he gave him a prescription for his toes with the caveat that that alcohol was a no no with the meds.  It's only a three month supply so we'll see.  But then beer isn't alcohol?
After 2 hours in the doctor's office, a couple guys were catching up on the past winter, we headed out to lunch with a couple stop overs.  First Sam's Club to get potato chips plus a few other things as it turned out.  Then the tollway authority office to get the good Velcro strips that hold up the I Pass transponder.  Those cheap (free) Oklahoma ones don't hold the transponders to the windshield.
Finally lunch.  Pot Bellys in Bolingbrook, next to Jareds.  Yes, we walked by Jareds to get to Pot Bellys for delicious hot subs.  I love their ham and swiss with brown mustard and a slice of dill pickle.  Ron prefers the tuna sub with everything on it.  The person in front of me in line got a meatball sub that really looked good especially the way he was devouring it at the next table.  Maybe I'll try that next time.  Then to Wal Mart to fill the new prescriptions  can' beat the price.  $10.00 each for three month supply of mine and Ron's was $4.00 for a month.
Back home for the evening relaxing and getting back into the "normal" routine after the fasting for the doctor's visit.
I still have to get my mammogram but that will wait a few days till I can get an appointment at the new Women's Center.
Almost forgot, the best news was that our doctor is going to be on staff at the new Silver Cross Hospital where his daughter is already on staff as an OB GYN doctor.

Ophthalmologist

Oops, for got to update you on the first doctor's appointment.  Vision is fine with glasses.  The eye pressure is great, very low.  The cataracts are growing but not bothering the vision yet.  The back of the eye looks just like it did last year.  I love going to that doctor except for one thing.  They keep giving me a "field of vision" test which I flunk every time.  I've decided I'm going to refuse to take it from now on.
For people who have never taken one, here's my version.  They sit you down on a stool and hand you a clicker attached to a wire to a giant eyeball shaped thing.  They put an eye patch over one eye and try to get you to believe you're a pirate.  I'm 65 years old, I don't play pirates anymore and I sure as *&^% don't have a parrot on my shoulder.  Next you put your chin and forehead up to the hole in the giant eyeball and they tell you to look straight ahead into a yellow light while they sync your eyeball to their machine.  Then they tell you not to move your eye but hit the clicker every time you "think" you see a light anywhere around the inside of the giant eye.  Well my brain tells my eye that it saw a light and needs to check it out before I press the button.  NOT  That's how I flunked the test.  BTW they switch eyes with the patches and you do it again.

Michael Philip

Short blog today.  SSgt Michael Darr, USMC, is on US soil, California.  Our grandson is safe back in the US of A.  I'm sure he enjoyed his dream vacation in Afghanistan.
Thank you God for bringing him home.

Gardening Day

Not to bad of a weather day.  A little warm and muggy this morning.  One of the outdoor thermometers read 84 and they're all in the shade.
Ron decided to plow gardens this morning because it might rain this afternoon.  First he plowed ours up and down and then across.  Next he took the tiller across the street to do a neighbor's garden.  When he got back we started planting.  Ron raked the soil flat and made the rows.  I watched to make sure the rows were straight. Ron sowed the parsnips, I watched.  Ron sowed the radishes, I watched.  Then I took the rake and covered the row of parsnips and radishes.  Rib sowed the lettuce, I watched........getting the idea of the sequence of events?  Well he also planted the onions but I didn't cover those.  I did cover the three rows of peas he planted tho.
Lunch followed and then off to the locally run market for tomato and pepper plants.  It started sprinkling when we left the house and the farther south we drove the heavier the rain.  By the time we got to Cass and Henderson it was pouring down and the outdoor market is only protected by plastic over the roof.  Now, if anyone remembers back 30 years ago, plastic for roof and rain are NOT a good topic of conversation.  We did get our plants and four hanging baskets without causing any disasters involving large amounts of water.  The baskets were immediately placed on the hangers on the back deck and the veggie plants are waiting their turn for the garden.  As for the weather, it cooled off considerably and is supposed to stay in the 50's for a few days.

Mother's Day

What a beautiful day yesterday turned out to be.  The sun was out nice and warm but not so hot we couldn't sit outside and enjoy the weather.  I took my place on my throne, aka porch swing, and enjoyed it all.  First come was Eric, the second grandchild, with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for grandma.  Betsy, only daughter. and son in law was second bringing Nick, the fourth grandchild, bearing gift of a huge coffee cup and saucer filled with geraniums.  Perfect gift.  The cup has taken on a tradition of returning for the second year with geraniums in it.  The cup and saucer and very pretty and very large and the flowers don't need a lot of pampering.
The conversation pretty much was focused on the Kentucky Derby from Saturday.  Eric was still on cloud nine.  One of his friend's mother's boyfriend is part owner of Animal Planet.  We discussed the race much longer than it took to run but that's OK, I love to watch horse races, they are so beautiful and graceful.
Next came my son, Bob, and his son, Matt.  They'd been riding dirt bikes all day and would no doubt suffer their fate in the next few days.  Matt had just gotten a new and bigger bike so this was his first time riding it on a track.  I think he really liked it and of course his father had to follow.  Their gift to be was totally unexpected but I think will be a great addition to our travel paraphernalia, a kindle.  I haven't chosen any books to download but I did register with amazon and have read some of the instructions.  Even checked into the public library e books but not sure if I can download them.  It would be great if I could.  I'm cheap.  The books I looked into don't seem to be that expensive on amazon but I can't decide which ones to start with.  Ron suggested downloading the classics, which sounds like a good idea.  I'm always thinking about reading or rereading them.  I'll probably start out with my favorite To Kill A Mockingbird even though I just recently re read it.  

Retiree's Meeting

Today was our retiree's meeting.  They only have them every other month minus January but we since we spend winters in AZ we miss the November and March meeting and Christmas Party in December.  Was a little disappointed in the lack of turnout but they are the losers. The Joliet Dulcimer Club played for us and it was just beautiful.  There were four dulcimers, two guitars, one fiddle and a percussionist with a out going personality.  The dulcimers are all hand made by wood workers and were beautiful pieces besides sounding great.
Got my voting signature straightened out.  In fact they already had changed it when I had the problems at the last election but I'm glad we stopped and made sure.  I take my right to vote very seriously and try not to miss voting every chance I get.  My thinking is if you vote and your person doesn't win you have a right to complain.  If you vote and your person does win, you still have the right to complain.  BUT if you don't vote you have no rights.
The weather has still not sprung into spring but it hasn't rained for a few days.  We still need to get up to Wisconsin and put flowers on Ron's foster mother's grave.  Her birthday is tomorrow and Mother's Day is Sunday but it doesn't look like we're going to make it till after the occasions.  I'm sure she understands.