Shortnin' Bread 2016

New mobile blogging app

I just downloaded a new app which I am hoping will make it easier for me to blog more regularly. 🤞🏻

 

Let's see how this works! 

Merry Christmas 2016

So much for my optimism from my last post, to be more faithful in my blogging!

It was a much different kind of Christmas this year, but we rolled with the punches.
Matt, Sally and Ellie were victims of a stomach bug, one right after another. It was a fast and furious foe. It meant that Matt, Sally and Ellie missed our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day festivities. Add to the mix was the fact that Julie (6 months pregnant) had a severe case of vertigo (the worst of it was in the middle of the night Sun into Mon) and didn't feel quite right all week. We did not want to expose Julie to any stomach bugs. It ended up that Wayne and Julie did not make it to Christmas Eve at Jenny and Jay's and only Wayne came to Bucky's on Christmas.
Disappointing for all that we couldn't be together, but it made us realize (even more than we already do) how very blessed we are with good health overall.
We all made the best of it and it opened the door to other choices for how we could celebrate Christmas.
Instead of going to our usual Christmas Eve mass at St. Cletus, Jack and I worshiped with Bucky and Downtown Sue at St. John Fisher. We went to the 4pm mass and the children presented the gospel. It was sweet and cute and holy, all in one.

mass at Fisher

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve at Jenny and Jay's. We were thrilled that Karen joined us this year after a two years off. It was a lighter crowd but a very fun crowd.

Kjell, Lisa, Jake and Charley

Jaime and Jenny

Christmas morning at Bucky's was fun, as always. We toasted to all who were not there with us, whether dead or just sick. We have that kind of sense of humor! One of the highlights was sitting around the dining room table and talking about lots of interesting topics. There was a little bit of family history, a little politics (well, a lot of politics, but everyone was interested), a little bit of catching up on everyone's lives.

opening presents

Downtown Sue

Jack and I ended up spending the rest of the day at Bucky's. Jack ran out to the 7-11 (only place open on Christmas) and got 2 frozen pizzas and cooked them for dinner.
All in all, a different but fun and meaningful Christmas. We are going to reschedule our Christmas Eve with our kids later this week when Julie and Wayne get back from Ohio.

Blog slacker

My blogging is diminishing. It's December 13th and not one post yet this month? I think I am only averaging 2.5 posts per month. How will I keep all my readers coming back?! Luckily, I am not worried about that. I am thrilled that anyone takes the time to read my blog, but that is not the primary reason I do this. I am not exactly sure why I blog, but I think it is all about the documentation. It helps me to remember. I think that is one of the reasons I take so many pictures and get so much joy from photographs. It keeps memories alive.

I have been feeling a bit anxious this Advent season. I am not sure why. It might be the cumulative effect of several Decembers that involved sick family members or dying family members. Maybe. It might also be because I am working through December 22nd. That does not leave much time for shopping, baking and all the other activities. 

I know for a fact that everything that needs to get done will get done. It always does. 

highlights from the previous week:

We are thrilled to have Bucky, Jack's dad, back in town. He is doing great. We had a fun dinner out at Ken's last Friday.

We got our tree on Saturday and we finally decorated our house. Jack and I agree that if we didn't get a tree, it'd be the beginning of the end for us. 

We had our annual Del Rio's dinner with Steve and Christy et al Saturday night.  Always a beautiful evening.

Last Thursday, I was honored to be asked by Nina to read a book to her class. She was star of the week and that was part of the deal. I was super impressed by Nina, her teacher and her class. Great experience!

Also, I need to blog about Ellie's brunch with Santa! So fun.

I am going to try to be more faithful to my blog and its faithful reader(s). 

Good night!

Another Thanksgiving Over and Done

It's Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend and another Thanksgiving is over and done. It was a really fun Thanksgiving and overall, a great weekend with a nice blend of fun, productivity and relaxation. After the craziness of hosting Thanksgiving, there were lots of naps. LOTS of naps. Clean a little, nap, do a little schoolwork, nap, clean up more, nap...repeat.
It was the first Thanksgiving that Jack and I were ready for our guests at least an hour before they arrived!!! It was sort of a miracle. It helped that I hosted a little playdate with Sally, Ellie, Teri, Caylen, Henry, Britt and Brooks on Monday after school. That gave me the impetus to clean over the weekend which lightened my cleaning load for Wednesday.

Henry, Ellie and Brooks

Sally, Ellie and I participated in the Hall Family WBTL (Wednesday Before Thanksgiving Lunch). Jenny hosted it at Houlihan's. Nice chance to relax amid the preparations.

the crew

Thanksgiving was fun. Hectic, but fun. Lighthearted and lots of laughs.
Sally, Matt, Ellie and Otto arrived early so that Ellie could nap and Matt could take Otto out for a long walk to burn off some energy. Jack, Sally and I talked about our profound Thanksgiving memories. Hard to pick just one...top picks: Tommy and  magnums of Taittinger, even when he was so impaired with his brain tumor; Mike and Marmar's last Thanksgiving(s) in 2011- who knew that both would leave this earth less than a month later? We got all of that heaviness out of our system before the festivities began.

We were very excited to have Matt's folks join us this year. Bob and Mary were a great addition and we hope they want to make it a new tradition.

Ellie is happy Grandma Mary and Papa are here

All in all, it was the most fun Thanksgiving we have had in a long time. Jenny texted me at 9:30 to see what time all the kids left. Here was my response:

still going strong at 9:30!

However, this Thanksgiving  we did discover a rather disturbing fact (disturbing to Jack, at least!); relish trays are a thing of the past! Jack takes great pride in buying items for his relish tray and alas, no one ate much of anything from them. Pumpkin pie isn't much of a seller anymore, either.
We will adjust!

election night

This is a big night.
It's almost 11pm and we are still following the returns for the presidential election.
By all accounts, Hillary Clinton should have had this won early in the evening. Everyone is beyond shocked that it wasn't a slam-dunk. There have been so many sound bytes and spins this whole election cycle. Who do you believe?
But what I would love to blog about right now is the fact that my husband is an election junkie. World Series? Super Bowl? Tonys? Oscars? Those hold no candle to how much an election night means to Jack.
Jack loves a good political race, win or lose. Jack knows more about our government and elections than most elected officials.
I think it started when Jack got tickets for his family to attend the Republican Convention in 1972.
Even if it was for the Democratic convention, I wouldn't love him less. Insert smiley face here.
I love Jack's passion for our country and his knowledge of our government.
Oh. My. Goodness.
What a night. No matter what happens tonight, history has been made. First female president or an outsider president.
God bless America!

Out of the Rut Weekend

It has been a great weekend.
Jack and I got a burst of energy on Saturday and decided to clean out our front hall closet. We emptied the entire closet, scrubbed it out and got rid of the spider webs.  We could not believe the things we found! Wayne and Sally's backpacks from grade school, hot packs for keeping hands warm that expired in 2006, a George Burns doll, an game ball from Wayne's Little League days... it was amazing. We got rid of lots of stuff and now we actually have room to hang up visitors' coats. It was four hours well spent.

we took everything out of closet. I have no idea how it all fit

Wayne memorabilia

After that productive day, we had a fun dinner with our old (young) neighbors, Joe and Michele. We made it an early dinner, as in 4:30, so that we could get in a good visit before the Cubs game. Joe and Michele are huge Cubs fans and we wanted them to have their full attention for the historic game. After dinner, we went back to Michele and Joe's and watched the game with them and their four kids. So much fun. It was great to experience this momentous event with this family. Only thing that would have made it better is if they still lived next door.

cute Cub fans

On Sunday, Jack and I accompanied Jenny and Abbie to the Holocaust Museum. Abbie is doing a novel study in 5th grade and learning about the Holocaust and that era. She was interested to know more. She is such a kind-hearted, caring, feeling kind of girl and the stories she has read about the Holocaust have made a huge impact on her. Our family field trip was a success. We all benefited.One of the best parts was the videos of survivors' personal stories. So moving, so incredible, so impactful. Also, I would like to return to this museum and spend more time at the new exhibit for 8-12 year olds. It's all about bullying and being an upstander rather than a bystander when you see some one not being treated fairly.

Upstander Abbie

amazing

I started this post on Sunday night. It's now Wednesday night and I am just getting back to it!
It's been a busy week so far with two IEP meetings. Jack has been in Nashville and I am getting ready to head out and pick him up from the airport. The second World Series game is on in the kitchen, with the Cubs leading 4-0 in the 6th. They lost the first game last night, but no one is hitting the panic button. I don't want to be a fair weather fan and pretend that I am a huge Cubs fan because I am not, but it's very exciting for all my friends and relatives that have waited a long time  for this. I am all in for the Cubs. Go Cubs Go!

I love a nice long weekend

There's nothing quite like Columbus Day weekend. It comes at just the right time in the school year, about six weeks in and everyone is ready for a little break in the action. This year I also have an Institute Day tacked on. Tomorrow I am going to a day long training about narrative language assessments (which I can totally use with my ED kiddos). It will be long, but it will be different and I will look forward to being back in the classroom on Wednesday.
This holiday weekend was extra special because Jack and I watched Ellie while Matt and Sally went to Napa to celebrate Matt's 30th (which was October 2). It could not have gone any better! Ellie is so easy and so sweet and we could sit and admire her for hours on end. Ellie arrived on Friday morning after she and Matt dropped off Sally at work. I only had to work 1/2 day in the pm so I was around all morning. We enjoyed visiting with Matt, our super great son-in-law, and he was patient listening to our stories and hanging out with us. At 10 am, while Ellie was down for her morning nap, Jack and Matt picked up Sally from work and they headed straight to the airport. How fun is that???
We did not do anything too extraordinary with Ellie. At 13 months, she is just as happy sitting on Grandpa Jack's lap and reading books, or going to Kramer's (Friday night)  or Kirschbaum's (Saturday morning). We also went to Nina's soccer game on Saturday morning. It was the most beautiful weather, as was the rest of the weekend. Abbie and Nina came back to our house with us (a long overdue visit) and later Jenny and Charley came to pick them up for a sleepover at Jenny's.
We loved visiting with Abbie and Nina. Ellie loves them so much and they are so good with her. Abbie and Nina are so mature! It is kinda crazy. We had a ball playing Kids Charades and then asking/answering questions from our question box. One of the best? Who is your most unusual relative? Abbie answered, "It has to be you, Jack. Being unusual isn't bad. It can be very good. You are unusual because when anyone is with you, you just make them want to burst out laughing. You are so funny". Love it!

On Sunday, we had to take Ellie to Bob and Mary's. Jack and I decided that Matt and Sally need to take longer trips so we can have Ellie with us for longer periods of time!
One of the highlights of Sunday evening was a facetime call with Wayne and Julie to catch up. Always good for my soul to talk to the kids.
Also this weekend we were finishing up the whole Hurricane Matthew situation. Bucky is still in Florida and did not evacuate with Paul to Pensacola. We were worried about Bucky, but were thrilled that he did not get much damage and any power outages. Praise God!!

Kirschbaum's cookie #1 of the weekend

first thing in the morning cuddles

Hey, these cookies are little!

what's that you say, Grandpa Jack?

Happy Birthday to Marie

Today would have been my mother-in-law's 88th birthday. God bless her. Marie was a woman of grace, style, compassion and  she was all about her family. She was loved and respected by her husband, children, grandchildren and especially her daughters-in-law (Marie was a role model to Sue and me). Thank God for this woman of faith. We miss her everyday.

Downtown Sue and Marie, mid 1980s

End of September already?

I think it's a function of growing older (notice I said older, not old), but the months fly by now. I still am finding it to be a strange time of life. How the heck did I get to be this age???
Some of the September highlights, in addition to the fabulous Labor Day party...
- I am getting settled in my new "school" and by school I mean church and by church I mean building. It has been quite a transition. My new classroom is smaller and hotter than any of my past classrooms, but interestingly enough, I am growing to love the new digs. Looking past the sweltering conditions of the classroom for the first four weeks of this school year, I am finding the new space to be quite zen. Private, calm, spartan, uncomplicated. Bloom where you are planted, as the saying goes. It certainly helps that my boss, Eileen, always makes sure that we have all the tools we need to get the job done. I know that the heat in our classroom bothered her more than it bothered me, even though she is not in our classroom on a daily basis. Eileen cares that much about her team. She even bought a new window air conditioner for our classroom. It should arrive later this week and of course, the temperatures are now in the 60s. That's ok because we have a three year lease and even if we don't need the AC now, we will for sure in the future.

the view of my room as I unlock the door each morning

- Ellie attended her first Hillsdale County Fair this past Sunday. It was super sweet to have Ellie and Sally with us (Matt was out of town on business and Wayne and Julie were in Nashville visiting friends). We did a day trip and Ellie was a trooper. It was pretty much a dream come true for Jack to be on his college campus and then at "his" Fair with his GRANDDAUGHTER. Wow.

Ellie wasn't sure about Winston Churchill

Ellie, here is the yearbook office

this year's photo button

God is so good.

Labor Day 2016

I am only a week late in posting about our outstanding Labor Day with our dear friends. Mark and Cathy have hosted a party on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend for 20 plus years and it is always a great time. Sure, there's incredible food (Peter Luger steaks flown in from New York, Cathy's famous bean casserole) and drink (best of the best wine and champagne), but even better, there are amazing people. I think back to those early years when the kids were in grade school and it does not seem that long ago. Now, those grade schoolers are in their late 20s and early 30s, married with kids of their own. The third generation of Labor Day party goers is expanding every year. For example, last year, Mark and Cath had 4 grandchildren (Mason, Lila, Savannah and Casey) and this year they had 7! Kai and twins Max and Mia joined the crew. Last year, Ellie came home from the NICU on the same day as the party, so this was her first year, too. Who knows how many more kids there will be at next year's party? God is so good.

Adam and Mark, bringing out the steaks

Julie, Mark and Gordon

Ellie with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Julie

love!

A milestone!

Two years ago I bought a pair of sandals at Nordstrom, based mostly on Sally's advice. I love them, but have never been able to put them on by myself because they have 2 side buckles on each sandal. Because of my hip issues, I have only been able to wear them if Jack was home to buckle them for me. True story. 

Well, this morning I decided to wear them and thought I'd try to put them on by myself. 

Success!!! So thrilled! 

Ellie's First Birthday

We had such a fun time celebrating Ellie's first birthday. Matt and Sally hosted an amazing party on Saturday. Loved everything about it, from the darling birthday girl in her Lily Pulitzer outfits (one custom designed by Carol B, Breezy's mom) to the food truck to the sweet smash cake experience.

Love my sweet granddaughter and she is blessed to be surrounded and loved by many wonderful people. 

right before her party; love the cheesy smile!

smash cake time!

Grandpa Jack, Ellie and Sally

A year ago today

A year ago today, Sally's water broke. 5 weeks early. Matt was in Peoria with his menfolk and Jack and I were in Florida with his dad. 

Wow. 

I remember well the stress and unknown of the next 36 hours or so before Ellie came into the world. 

Beth drove Sally to the hospital last August 23rd and today she is babysitting for Ellie. 

So thankful for how it all worked out, to say the least! 

Transition Monday

My new school year officially started last Wednesday with our Institute Day. I enjoy this opening day. It's a chance to see my work friends and listen to speeches. It's not much effort on my part.

Lisa and me

Today was the first day I "worked" and by that I mean a half day, starting with a fun breakfast with Cath and Christy. Love our catch up breakfasts and love these ladies. 

girlfriends 

I worked in my room from 11am on. It was hot. No AC. Not good for my hair do. It'll be ok, though. 

my new work home Mon-Thurs this year

I'm transitioning to a new home for my classroom and to a new school year. The key is to be open minded and flexible. 

I've got this. Right?

True confessions of a grandmothering fail

I experienced a huge grandmothering fail this past Wednesday night. Under my watch, Ellie crawled off of a bed and did a header on to the floor. I don't want you to be too stressed, so I will tell you that three days later, she is fine other than a skinned nose. But I assure you that Wednesday night was very traumatic for Ellie, me, Matt and Sally and Jack.
Here is what happened:
Matt and Sally are having a bunch of painting done at their house and Sally was starting work on Thursday (two full days of meetings on Thursday and Friday, then classes start on Monday August 15, so I offered to babysit those two days). Things were a bit hectic with the painting, so Sally decided that she and Ellie would spend the night at our house. Matt came to pick up Otto to take him to his folks' house. I offered to change Ellie into her sleeper and took her into the bedroom to change her diaper and put on her pjs. The diaper change went well, but when I reached down to get the sleeper, Ellie scooted out of a sitting position in the middle of the bed and sprint crawled to the edge of the bed with a giant smile on her face. I tried to grab her, but she was too fast and she crawled right off the edge of the bed and landed on her face on the floor. There was a huge thud, Matt and Sally came running and Ellie started crying, I picked Ellie up off the floor and handed her to Sally and just buried my face in my hands and kept repeating "I am so sorry".
I thought I was going to throw up.
It's a terrible feeling being responsible for someone else's hurt and it's even worse when it's your granddaughter. It did not matter how understanding Matt and Sally were.
There wasn't any blood and all of Ellie's body parts appeared to be working. Her forehead and nose were red, like a rug burn. Matt called his dad who just happens to be a pediatrician (as I might have mentioned a time or two). Bob was reassuring and told him what to watch out for. I prayed more than usual Wednesday night, that's for sure. On Thursday morning, Ellie was acting like Ellie and I was very thankful.
The scary thing was how quickly that tumble happened. It was so so so fast. It made me realize once again how life can change in an instant. I felt like life is one big accident waiting to happen. I know, however, that that is no way to live life, worrying about what might happen, what could happen. I have to control the variables that I can and trust in God.
I am so thankful for our positive outcome and for everyone being forgiving and understanding.

shortly after the fall #toughcookie

the next morning

36 hours after the fall/Friday am

Birthday and anniversary weekend

It was a holiday weekend for us. Jack and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary and I had another birthday. 

It started off Friday night with dinner with Chuck and Teri, our annual anniversary and usually one or two birthday(s) celebration. I think we have been doing it pretty much every year since 1986. Somewhere I have pictures from almost all of those years. It'd be great if I could find them and organize them sequentially. I did not get a picture this year, though Teri did ask someone to take our picture. It wasn't the best shot because we were sitting in (as Chuck called them) kindergarten chairs. Anyway, this year Chuck and Teri treated us to dinner at a restaurant named Travelle, in the Langham Hotel. It was a super fun night. We always have interesting conversations, with more topics than time to cover them. I really treasure these times together. 

Jack and I spent the rest of the weekend at the Union League Club. We were planning on staying just Friday night, but on Saturday morning, I suggested we stay another night. Yes I did. I am such a homebody and so frugal that it rarely happens that I throw caution to the wind like that and suggest we extend our stay. Good for me! I was pretty proud of myself. We ended up having dinner at Twin Anchors, a restaurant for which we had heard many rave reviews. Afterward, we took a walk through Old Town, then ubered it over to the Gold Coast, where we enjoyed a lovely bottle of champagne at the Ritz lobby bar. We had had a drink there on our first date back in 1982. It was the perfect opportunity to people watch and relax and contemplate all of our many blessings. 

selfie in the elevator at the Ritz

selfie in the Main Dining Room at the Club, 33 years to the day!

Summer Wednesday

I love my summer schedule and having some flexibility and open time during the day. I sometimes spin my wheels trying to figure out what I am going to do with my unstructured time and end up doing nothing of any importance.
Not today!
For today, I made plans to meet Jenny for breakfast. Since Susie died, we haven't really been in the mood to go out for a sister lunch. We all loved those times together. They were so special and always included a picture of the three of us. Suz wanted to see the sister picture up on Facebook within hours of our lunch date. Makes me smile to think about that. Jenny and I talk pretty much everyday, often while I am on my way to work and only for 10 minutes or so, but we get into some deep conversations during those short calls. Yesterday I texted Jen to see if she wanted to grab breakfast or lunch and we decided to meet at Egg Harbor at Yorktown. It was a great way to start the day and we left wondering why the heck we don't do things together more often. We did not take a picture, though.  Fail.
After breakfast, I went into work for a little while. I am assigned to three evals tomorrow and I wanted to preview the files. That was productive, but I was done by 11am with unstructured day ahead of me. I decided to call Sally and offer to watch Ellie while she got some stuff done. Sally said yes and I headed over to her house after lunch.
Ellie is growing so fast!! It is amazing to witness. She is crawling all over, pulling to stand, babbling, laughing, demonstrating object permanence and joint attention. Wow. Just wow.
Because Ellie is so mobile now, I decided to put her in her crib while I was in the bathroom. I came out and there was Otto, laying in the nursery doorway. I think he was protecting her! So sweet.

While I was writing this post, we had a storm pass through, followed by some brilliant lighting. Sally called to see if we had a rainbow. Jack and I went outside and there it was, the most glorious rainbow!

No one loved a rainbow more than Suz. Gives me great comfort to think she was watching over us and watching us enjoy this sign of God's covenant.

A different sort of Fourth of July

Our family is known for our love of traditions. We have lots of them. One of our favorite traditions is the Fourth of July parade in our town. Jack and I had not missed one in 29 years. I love that we have traditions, but I also love that we are flexible and know what our priorities should be. We missed it this year for a great reason. We wanted to spend time with Jack's dad.
I met Jack down in Florida on Sunday, July 3rd. We were able to see fireworks this year as Jack's brother Paul invited us to watch them from his condo. It was a great display and the local radio station played patriotic music that was synced with the fireworks. Paul provided snacks and some drinks and it was a lovely way to celebrate our country's birth.

fireworks reflected in the lake

Jack and our host, Paul

Our week with Bucky was fun, meaningful and productive. There is something so special about spending ordinary moments with family. We had fun planning out meals. As soon as we finished breakfast, my question was always,"What are we going to have for lunch?!".  Of course! Jack's dad's condo has a fabulous view of a lake and is also just two blocks from a darling downtown area that has lots of shopping and great restaurants. So fun. Each night we enjoyed the sunset and the beautiful cloud formations and great conversation.

the view from our table everyday

love the lighting

cheers to another great breakfast!

I wouldn't trade our time together last week for anything- not even a parade.