Impromptu Dinner

We had the best dinner tonight. Sally and Matt stopped by to visit late this afternoon and ended up staying for dinner. It was a cathartic evening as we ended up showing Matt the DVDs that Jenny made for Dane and Tommy when they died. Matt had never seen these. I cried (a LOT) at first, then settled into my happy memories of incredible times spent with these guys. Sally didnt cry at all. Oh, no, wait...yes she did. As much as I did. But in the end it was all good because we felt as if Matt got to meet two of our favorite guys.
Seasons of love, baby.

Grace's 21st

We celebrated the 21st birthday of my goddaughter, Grace, last Friday. It was a fun night in the city and we did not get home til 1am. Impressive at our age! We began the celebration at Caylen and Joe's house at 7:30, where we were joined by a fun group of Grace's friends as well as her family and Wayne, Sally and Matt. After some great food and fun toasts, we boarded a trolley and headed out on the town. Chuck and Teri (Grace's parents), Colleen (Teri's sister) and Steve (Colleen's husband and Grace's godfather), and Jack and I went to the first stop with the youngsters. It felt much like a parents weekend at U of I. So. Much. Fun. After we split from the kids, the grown ups went to a cool restaurant named Hot Chocolate. Excellent food and conversation. Grace said she loved her birthday celebration. One of the things she loved best was that she didn't need to text or call anyone that night. All of her closest friends were there with her.
Happy birthday, Grace! I hope you enjoyed your first taste of champagne !

His father's son

You know the old saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"? It is so true in our family. Check out Wayne's shiny red pleather pants. So festive and not unlike Jack's favorite Christmas pants. Jack's are red corduroy with green wreaths embroidered on them. Love them! The pants and my husband and son.

Long time, no post

Holy toledo, it has been so long since I posted! I didn't realize it. It has been an incredibly busy December. Not as busy as last December when we had Mike and Marmar's deaths nine days apart...we look back at that time and still can't believe that it really happened. I think, on some level, conscious or not, I felt the drain (emotionally and physically) again this year. Plus, it was an unusually hectic December at work. I had many students "graduating" and new students entering my speech class, plus a special project with one of my students, plus my Fun Friday friends, plus wrapping up the iPad class that I was facilitating. This year, I worked until December 21st and that added to the time crunch. So I guess I don't feel too badly about leaving my devoted readers hanging. I am going to be a blogging fool the next day or two til I catch up. Thanks for your patience! xox

Mike

love this picture of Mike

Yesterday was the first anniversary of Mike's death. Amazing that it has been a year. And amazing the way that Sue, Lauren, Brendan have handled the loss of Mike. Bill and Marie, too. Losing a child is something that no parent should ever have to experience, no matter what the age. Everyone is working hard at healing. I know that I find comfort in reading Jack's eulogy (see side tab on the home page) of Mike. He absolutely captured the essence of his brother. Having lost a sibling, I know that is a difficult loss to process. Sibling relationships definitely shape who we are. Siblings share that rich family history that no one else is privvy to.

Brendan, Fr Gavin and Sue

Sue organized the family to go to Mass together on Sunday.  It was great to be there as a family and to worship with Father Gavin. He is one incredible priest. Father Gavin made a point of recognizing that there were three families there that were celebrating the year anniversary of a loss. Our family, the grandmother of a 20 year old guy who was killed in a car accident (and whose wake was across the way from Mike's) and the daughter of a guy who was killed in a motorcycle accident. One quote that our family loved was "Death leaves a heartache that no one can heal, love leaves memories that no one can steal". So true. Sue, Lauren, Brendan, Diane (Sue's sister) and Jack brought up the gifts.

After mass, Sue treated us all to a lovely lunch at Carriage Greens. Sue shared the good news that Lauren just got a big promotion at work... assistant VP at the age of 25! It runs in the family:) And Brendan just bought a condo in the city! He is also thriving in the first year of his career. No doubt Mike is smiling down on his family. We miss you, Unkl Mike.

beautiful memories

Here is a video of Twelve Days of Christmas, Del Rio's style.

Del Rio's 2012

Matt and Jack

Jen and Matt

my boy

my girl

Steve and Christy

We had a lovely evening with Steve, Christy, Matt and his fiancee Jen...at Del Rio's, one of our newer holiday traditions. Del Rio's is a quaint Italian restaurant that has these special holiday dinners, complete with singers from the Lyric Opera. It is such a fun experience! This was our third year attending, thanks to Christy and Steve, especially Steve who wakes up early the day after Thanksgiving to make the reservation. The food is great and the company and music... even better. I will try and post a video soon. Just FYI, in the Twelve Days of Christmas, we got 3 French Hens! We were thrilled.

Getting in the Christmas spirit

I am getting in the Christmas spirit...with help from some antibiotics. I was so over my flu from 10 days ago, then the cough and headache started up again. A little fever, too. I went to the doctor this
morning and I have bronchitis and a sinus infection. Got my antibiotics and hopefully I will be good to go. I have a very busy couple of weeks coming up at work, not to mention the holidays. Who has time to be sick? !

Frisco Melt!

I got the Frisco Melt that I have had a hankering for. After mass, I made Jack take me to the closest Steak and Shake. Ahhhhh. So good. I am one satisfied woman.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I woke up this morning in the Christmas spirit! Maybe because it is December 1st or maybe it's just because I am feeling like myself again. We got the decorations down from the attic and started getting the house ready for the holidays. I took some pictures and had fun with it.
I am still in the process of learning how to shoot in manual, so I played around with aperture, ISO and shutter speed and just started clicking and adjusting. I am learning as I go.
This evening, Jack and I went over to Tamara and Tom's for drinks and appetizers. Such a fun time. I could sit and listen to their stories all night. Then they showed pictures from their iPad on their Apple TV and it was amazing! Tom hooked up my iPhone to their Apple TV and we shared some of our pictures with them. Technology is incredible!! As we were leaving, Tom gave Jack an Apple TV! Seriously, what? Are we on Oprah?? So fun. And light hearted. And interesting. A lovely connection with lovely people. A great start to the holiday season.