Woo Hoo! Spring Break 14

I am half way through my spring break which, so far, has been a fabulous and productive stay-cation. I have been staying with my early morning walk routine with Jean, so it's nice when I get back from my walk and I don't have to get ready for work; I can just get stuff done. In the past, I often ended up spinning my wheels for the first several days of break, but made a concerted effort not to do that this time.
Here is what I have done so far:
On Saturday, Jack and I had dinner at Gibson's with Sue and Don. It was a relaxing and fun night with lots of good conversation. As we getting ready to leave, Sue ran into the restaurant manager whose daughters went to school with Brendan. He bought us a round of drinks at the bar and NCAA basketball was on. It was a fun night out!

Sue and Don

Sue and Jack

On Sunday, Jack and I went to mass then I went out to Susie's for a visit. I had not been to her house in ages!! I mean, months. Really. We did a run to Walt's, Marmar's favorite grocery store, and that brought back lots of good memories. Loved having that opportunity to visit and catch up with my sister. 

Me, Stephanie (on my lap) and Bella

On Monday, after my walk with Jean, I took Jack to the airport, then went to the doctor for my physical. I also cleaned out the linen closet in the bathroom and sorted through some baskets of clothes in the basement. I know. I rock.

Yesterday, I got a manicure because my nails were a HUGE mess after this winter. It was about 11 when I was done, so I headed to the outlet mall in Aurora for some shopping. Too bad Jen wasn't off. And too bad I didn't think ahead and make some food to take to Jay who had shoulder surgery a couple of weeks ago. Not too thoughtful on my part! The outlet mall was empty (since many folks are not yet on break) and I loved shopping around for almost 3 hours, all by myself. I even scored some pants for work! I have worn the same two pairs of black jeans for most of the winter and I am sick of them!!! Pretty exciting!
In the evening, I met Sally and Lauren for dinner. I loved having some plans and especially with two sweethearts like them. We had so many laughs and talked a lot about life and death and everything in between. I had signed up for an Instagram account the night before, but had not yet posted a picture. We had the waitress take a picture of the three of us and Lauren and Sally helped me post it. I am pretty proud of myself! Learning something new always feels good. 

My first Instagram!

This has been a total "Dear Diary" post, but I know you want to know every detail of how I am spending my time.
I bet you can hardly wait for the next post about the other half of my break ;)

Stay tuned. 

Celebrating Krissy and Chris

Last Sunday I was so thrilled to be invited to a baby shower for Krissy, daughter-in-law of Cathy and Mark, wife of their son, Chris. Krissy and Chris are expecting their first baby on April 17th and we could not be happier for them. It has been a productive year for Mark and Cath as they went from 2 grandchildren (Mason and Lila, children of Jeff and Andi) to 3 when Adam and Kristin had Savannah Mae on Feb 24th and now #4 will arrive sometime next month. It doesn't get any better than that!!

Cath and Andi hosted the shower at Cath's and it was lovely. So good to catch up with people and as total bonus, Kristin was there with Savannah. Though I did not get to hold her because someone was a baby hog (I am not naming names, but it starts with Chr- and ends with -isty), it was a joy to meet Savannah.

Such happy times! I cannot wait to meet Baby Wik! And I look forward to watching another wonderful generation of Wiks grow up.



Cath, Christy, Krissy and me

Savannah!

Shoes

After my brother Tom died 7 years ago (7 years ago today, as a matter of fact) his wife, Ann, was getting ready to move out of the house that they were living in. This house, less than two miles from where I live, was a haven for us during that terrible, beautiful time in our lives. While Ann was packing up, she had to make some decisions about Tom's belongings. She was so generous to us. Ann gave us a huge box of shoes and belts as well as pants, shirts, and other assorted clothing items. Those have been such a godsend to us. We laugh at how Tom's shoes have fit just about everyone in our family. You loved Tommy? Here, try on these shoes. There will be a pair that fits you. I am not kidding. It is a miracle how these things of Tom's just keep working for us, keeping his memory and legacy alive.
That night a couple of weeks ago at the Union League Club with Julie and her family, as we were saying our good nights, I looked down and saw a pair of Tom's shoes on Wayne's feet.
It made me smile and know that Tom was there with us.

Drinks at the Drake, Dinner at the ULC

Last Saturday, after wedding dress shopping, Julie, Sarah (her sister), Marie (her mom), Sally and I stopped in the Drake for a quick toast. I enjoyed sharing with everyone that we were celebrating our bride and the joy of choosing a wedding dress. Note: a cab driver turned off the meter when I told him that and our waiter at the Drake gave us a free dessert. :) Just sayin'

our free dessert

After the Drake, we met up with Wayne, Jack, Gordon (Julie's dad), Tim (Julie's brother-in-law and Sarah's husband) and Ty (Tim and Sarah's 3 month old son) at the Union League Club for dinner. It was such a festive evening! A nice bonus was running into Tom and Marsha, parents of Andrew, who played football with Wayne in high school (Andrew was the center and Wayne the right guard). Jack and I spent many a Friday night with Tom and Marsha and it was so good to see them. They were happy to meet Wayne's fiancée.

Wayne, Julie, Sarah, Marie, Gordon, Tim and Ty

Tim and Ty at dinner

love the fingers

Wayne, Julie, Marsha and Tom

I couldn't help but think of Grandma and miss her, but also I thought of all of the happy times we have spent at the Club- so many happy family memories over the last 32 years. Those were great days for which we are so thankful. Looking forward to many more.

Wedding Dress Shopping Fun!

Sally, Julie, Sarah and Marie

Julie, being so kind and thoughtful, invited Sally and me to go wedding dress shopping with her, her mom and sister on Saturday. What a special event that is! Shopping for a wedding dress is such a special milestone experience and for Julie to include us was beyond generous.
Julie had narrowed her choices down to four or five dresses at two shops on Oak Street in Chicago. We loved watching Julie try on her top choices as well as a few new ones thrown in. Julie even tried on a dress that I thought was so cool. It wasn't cool on, but how sweet of her to try it on for her future mother-in-law.
Julie has not made a final decision, but I think it is pretty clear which dress is The One. When she walked out to show us, she was glowing.
Whatever choice Julie makes, she will be a GORGEOUS bride.

One of the designers and the owner of the shop, Amanda

 ,

Julie and Erika, her awesome consultant



Kids in the house!

What a great weekend! Tiring, but awesome. Both Wayne and Sally were here at home for awhile and we shared lots of love and laughing and time together.
Sally spent most of the weekend here. Matt was up north with his dad and uncle, so she decided to hang out at our house. And we had invited Abbie and Nina for a sleepover (now that our sewer is finally fixed we can have people over again!!!) so it was perfect. Jack, Sally, Abbie, Nina and I snuggled up in the basement and watched Frozen. I have been wanting to see Frozen because my preschoolers at work are pretty much obsessed with it. The soundtrack is wonderful and the girls knew all of the songs and sang along. Adorable! I loved the movie and its message. And we had such fun texting and talking to Susie throughout the night. The girls really want to do a sleepover at Susie's with Bella, Stephanie and Joseph (her Newfoundland and two cats).

Bella and Stephanie via text from Suz

We all went to bed around 11pm. I was just making sure that the front porch light was on when Wayne and Julie pulled up. They were spending the night at our house (after spending the evening with Julie's new nephew, Ty...oh and her sister, brother-in-law and her parents who were in town from Cleveland). Perfect timing! Sally and Abbie heard them come in and so the five of us sat up and talked for another two hours. Abbie told Wayne and Julie all about the musher she is following in the Iditarod (a school assignment) and we showed them songs from Frozen on YouTube. And I think that Wayne and Julie enjoyed it as much as we did.
On Saturday morning, Jack got up early and went to Kirschbaum's to get the girls' favorite treats. Of course it had snowed a bit. When hasn't it this winter? After breakfast, Sally, Jack, Abbie, Nina and I played many rounds of Kids Charades and "Questions" (e.g., what is your favorite color? who is your favorite Disney princess?). Julie was up early to shower...literally! She had a baby shower for one of her friends (who I taught in CCD many years ago, small world!). Arne and Beth picked up the girls around 11 because Abbie had to go to a birthday party.
I loved having all of that youthful energy filling our home!

Abbie painted her version of my painting:)

Sally and her back up singers

Dinner with Bob and Mary

We had a lovely evening with Sally's parents-in-law last week. Bob and Mary invited us and Matt and Sally over for dinner. The evening started with a bourbon tasting for the guys and a wedding scrapbook viewing for the girls. Mary put together a scrapbook about Matt and Sally and their courtship and Bob assembled an amazing variety of bourbons. That was followed by a delicious dinner of BBQ sandwiches and side dishes that were out of this world. The culmination was Mary's bread pudding (with raisins soaked in the bourbon!).
Love to spend time with folks that play such an important part of my girl's life. And love Bob and Mary for the son they raised and the wonderful husband he is to Sally.