We said "Yes to the Dress"

Big night tonight. Sally and I ordered her wedding dress. We found it at a little shop in Naperville last month. We were just "kinda" looking that day. After trying on several top contenders, Sally tried on one last dress. When she walked out of the dressing room, I knew it was the one. So did she. We went back the following week with the FOB and MOH and got their approval. We didn't need to order it until October, but we decided to go ahead and get it done before then. Tonight was the night..and the fact that it's Tommy's birthday made it even more meaningful. If that's possible.
I loved the look on Sally's face as she looked at herself in the mirror. Such a special moment in a season of many.

Wedding Weekend in Atlanta

We had a lovely weekend in Atlanta, celebrating the marriage of Alison and Zac. Alison is the daughter of the best man from our wedding, Rick and his wife, Pat. Even though we only get to see them on the average of once every 10 years or so, we have such a close bond with them. It meant so much to us to be able to go the wedding and share in the happiness. Chuck and Teri came, too; Chuck, Rick and Pat all went to high school together in Michigan. What a fantastic few days!
Jack and I flew out very early Friday morning (luckily I was able to take a personal day at work) and were in Atlanta by 9 am. We went to the state capitol to get the picture of the building...Jack now has taken pictures of 38 state capitol buildings since he began this hobby a few years ago. Later, we met the Father of the Bride for lunch and had fun catching up on all the news. When we went to check in to the hotel, we ran into Pat, Alison and Lindsay (their other daughter) and Pat's sisters, who were just back from a bridal luncheon. What positive energy! After visiting for a while, Jack and I went to our room for a nice, long 2 hour nap...just what I needed.
Friday evening, we went out to dinner with Chuck and Teri to a restaurant named Bones (not Chops!). Fantastic dinner and then back to the hotel where we once again ran into the wedding party and got to visit some more.
On Saturday, Teri, Chuck, Jack and I went hiking at Stone Mountain, then out for a late lunch at a darling restaurant in Roswell. The day was beautiful and it was so relaxing to be with our buddies and have the time to just enjoy each others' company. The four of us travel well together.

check out Teri's gorgeous dress!

The wedding was at 6pm, followed immediately by the reception. We had to make an emergency stop at TJ Maxx, however, as the zipper in Teri's custom made dress broke right before the ceremony. It took us less than 10 minutes to find the perfect dress as well as a coordinating purse and then we were on our way.
We had a fun time at the reception. It was held in an old southern mansion and they had a band that played incredible music. All in all, a beautiful evening.
Our flight home on Sunday wasn't until 8:45 pm so we had a day to fill. We went to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum. It was so interesting to learn about his life and times from a different perspective.
Great weekend!

Happy birthday to my honey!

Today is Jack's birthday, as mentioned in the previous post. And Downtown Sue's, too. Jack and his sister Sue were born on the same day 3 years apart. Good thing neither of them were (what I like to call) birthday freaks. From all reports Sue and Jack have always been good about sharing their birthdays.
I cannot say often enough how truly blessed I am to be married to Jack. He is the perfect soul mate for me. I love to be with him. I love the way he respects and loves me and Wayne and Sally and really, pretty much everyone that he calls a friend. There is nothing insincere about Jack. If he says to you "You are the man" (or woman), he means it. Jack has a deep love for his family of origin, the original six :) as well as his family by marriage and his family of friends...
God is so good.

Birthday Girls

We celebrated two family birthdays last week. My sister Sue's bday was on Monday, September 10th. She celebrated by going to the first Bears game of the season with her BFF Karen. Then Jenny and I met Suz for lunch on Saturday the 15th. Great sister time. As always.
On September 15th we also celebrated our niece Lauren's birthday. There was a fun party for Lauren's 25th at John Barleycorn's in Wrigleyville during the Iowa game. There was a tremendous turnout. Jack and I had so much fun catching up with the birthday girl and Sue, Brendan, Sam, Chili et al. Not an easy birthday for Laur, her first without her dad. I thought back to the day Lauren was born. She was born in a hospital just a few blocks away from us; at that point we had lived in this house a little over a month. Wayne was 2 1/2 and I remember we were just getting ready to go to the grocery store when the doorbell rang. It was Mike, there to share the exciting news that Lauren Elizabeth had been born! Mike was so proud! Such a happy memory for all of us.
The birthdays continue as tomorrow is Jack and Downtown Sue's birthday. It's a big one for Downtown Sue but I won't say which one! Seems like last year we were taking Sue to Le Perroquet for her 40th.
And that's not the end of September birthdays! Tom's was on September 25 and Marie's is on September 30. Matt is Oct 2.
Happy birthdays, fam!

Out of the Rut: Go Sox! On a Tuesday

I am so proud. We did something very spur of the moment. We went to a White Sox game on a "school night". Late Monday night, Wayne bought 4 tickets, front row centerfield, on StubHub. I had been complaining that I had not made it to a Sox game all season and the next thing I know Wayne invited me and Jack. Sally wasn't able to go so Wayne gave the extra ticket to his friend, Vlad. Jack and I met the guys at The Cell. It felt like a four hour vacation! The weather was perfection, 75 degrees and clear skies. On a day of remembrance 9/11, I couldn't help but think of Sox games of the past. My dad took us to many Sox games over the years and those were fun times. And so, of course, I thought of Pawp, Dane (and Danefests) and my brother, Tom. They were very sweet memories last night, not sad. About the only negative of the "out of the rut" night was that the Sox lost a close one.

Jack, Wayne, Vlad and me

beer an inning? uh, not anymore!

Labor Day tradition continues!

Another awesome Labor Day party at Cathy and Mark's! You can go back and look at the past two Labor Day posts and read about the origins of this fun party. It has been going on for 17 years at least (I think?), but we never assume it's on/we'll be invited again (you never know!) until we get the official invitation. When the invite came in August, I immediately texted Jack, Wayne and Sally with the good news:) So fun with our inter-generational partying.We missed Adam and Kristin again this year (they are still in North Carolina)... and Jordan and his guys were under the weather so couldn't make it, but we did have Chris and Krissy there after a two year absence and Mark's mother also was in attendance.
It was such a fun night, to be with lifelong family friends and enjoy great company, food, drink and conversation as we ended summer...unofficially because I know there are still a few weeks left, but once Labor Day is done and the school year is officially underway, summer is kaput. But that's alright. Mark and Cath's party makes the transition easier :)

Here are some pictures and also a video of "Popcorn", performed by The Lane Dancers

makes the end of summer a bit easier to handle

Mason doing his chores :)

what do you suppose Jack said to Ruth?!

check out that pirate water table!

It won't be long before Mason is old enough. Because time goes that quickly

Rainy Labor Day Saturday

I love it! Today has been the perfect day to relax and catch up on a few things that I haven't had time to do this week. It was a really good first week of kids, but exhausting (as usual) as I readjust to the work schedule. I cannot believe how fast the days go!

On Monday, I taught the first of seven sessions of a class (for other professionals, not kids) called "iPads: Apps and Applications".. I hesitate to say I am teaching it; I think facilitating is a better word. In any case, it was fun and preparing for it helped me learn even more about iPads.
Another highlight of the week has been watching the Republican National Convention. So interesting and some excellent speeches. Jack and I are looking forward to watching the Democratic National Convention this week. With the awful economy and all the divisiveness in our country, this is an especially important presidential election. We all need to be informed. And not be hating on our fellow citizens.
Last night we watched Sally coach a swim meet at the high school, then went out for some sushi. It was an early night!
All in all, a good week.