I am SO pleased to tell you that we are grandparents for the third time!
Dear Husband’s only daughter gave birth late Saturday night, September 29. She and her husband have a three and a half year old girl, and the new baby is also a girl. The kids are still trying to decide what her name will be. They have a penchant for actress names from 1980 and earlier
Our little newcomer weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces at birth, and is 19.5 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing well and expect to be home soon.
The nicest thing about being a grandmother is that you get to spoil babies! *G*

My-Sister-The-Nurse had a birthday in July. Her daughters and daughters-in-law decided to plan a trip to Chicago to see the musical “Wicked,” and go out to dinner. Unfortunately, one of her daughters was unable to attend, but the ticket was given to one of our nieces, and, one of MSTN’s friends, her oldest granddaughter and I, were invited to participate, too.
We took two cars, and met at the theater. It was astonishing to see our group file in and take our seats! There were eight of us. Most of us had seen the performance at least once, and knew what to expect, but it was fun to see the show through the eyes of those experiencing it for the first time.
After the curtain calls, we walked five blocks to the restaurant where we had planned to eat. They don’t take reservations, but we were there within five minutes of the time they opened, so we thought it wouldn’t be a problem to get in. WRONG! We could see that the bar area was filled, but none of the seats in the restaurant, not even those out on the sidewalk were filled. We were told there would be a two and a half hour wait to be seated. It might have been better if they had simply said….”The entire restaurant has been booked for a party for the next 150 minutes.
We wandered around for a couple of minutes before someone said the magic word: Italian. We were one block away from “Ballo,” a restaurant in the Rosebud chain. We trouped in, and were seated right away. I ordered a dish made with penne, a creamy tomato sauce, lobster, and shrimp. YUM!!!!!! I brought half of it home, and it will be lunch tomorrow. There’s something wonderful about a table full of women, talking, drinking wine, and eating heavenly food, especially when you are related to all the women!
I had an incredible time, and I hope we do this again. I haven’t been getting out much lately, and I miss social time with family and friends.
This was a winner, girls! Congratulations on a great day!

I’ve heard people talk about “floaters” for some time. I always thought they were talking about the little see-through spots that you occasionally see crossing your eye that are about the size of a pin-head or less. I was wrong.
Monday, I got my first floater. I thought there was a fly buzzing around me while I was getting dressed, but I realized that the fly moved in the same direction my right eye moved. I did some research at the computer to pin down what was happening, and then made a call to the optometrist. The receptionist confirmed my suspicions, and told me that I didn’t need to see the doctor unless I began to get flashes of light inside my eye.
I passed on seeing the doc, and Monday evening I began seeing those flashes.
I’ve been a bit scared about all of this, but my eye doctor is really superb. The nurse took “pictures” of the back of the interior of my eye, and Doc K. showed them to me. My eye is just aging. The vitreous sac is partially detached from the wall of my eye, and a change in the consistency of the contents has caused the floater. Doc says I should be able to see well, and that the floater might possibly sink, in time. The flashes I have seen are due to the vitreous sac bouncing off the back of the eye, when I change positions. When I sit up, and then stand up, in the morning, or if I bend over to tie my shoe, I’ll see them.
Should the flashes come more frequently, or if I develop a black spot in my vision, I need to see Doc K. again, but otherwise, it’s business as usual.
I’m not delighted with the changes in my body as I age, but Dear Husband has a point when he says the alternative (not aging) is not too pretty . Elegante Mother has a sweatshirt that says “Old Age is NOT for SISSIES!” I guess I better buck up!

I could probably leave it at that, but you know I won’t! lol. Our trip through the central Illinois and Indiana farmlands was wonderful. We got to watch the harvest in progress. I’m assuming that the farmers either got their crops in early this year, or the crops are drying out early due to lack of rain. For whatever reason, the harvest looked to be as much as one quarter of the way done! The farmers were harvesting both soybeans and corn. I thought the tradition was to harvest the corn first, because the beans suffer less damage in the field if the harvest is delayed.
We had to take a detour in Indiana, but I lucked out, and had been on those roads, and knew my way. I avoided adding an hour to the trip because I was familiar with the area. We arrived, and unpacked all the goodies and sat for a bit. My-Sister-The-Nurse had made a Crockpot of sausage and peppers and Nan put together a great meal around it. We sat and talked all evening, just us girls. The guys all had other things to do, so it was a girly weekend.
On Saturday, MSTN and I collected Nan at the school and drove her north to the competition. For some reason, I thought the competition started around 3:00, so we hurried up into the stadium. But, as we turned the corner, I realized there was almost no one there! I checked the program, and the first performance was scheduled for 5:00. We watched the class D, C and B bands perform, probably 10 or 12 bands, followed by the awards ceremony. I’m delighted to tell you that my niece’s band won first place in her class!
The band set up props to create a huge clock face on the field. Props with numbers surrounded them in a circle. They did an incredibly daring move at the start of the program. As the show started, a line of kids created the minute hand of a clock and swept from twelve to about four. I know that doesn’t sound so terribly amazing, but in corps-style marching, you avoid straight lines because anyone out of line, or out of step is so easy to see, and for every error the judges see, you loose points. My niece said they had worked on the opening for some time, moving kids in and out, until they found the group who could sweep the “hand” in a perfectly straight line. I AM SO PROUD OF THEM!!! I can hardly wait to see them next month!
Elegante Mother decided it was going to be too long a day for her, so she stayed home with my youngest niece. My niece decided to make Chicken Parmigiana and called her mother to discuss recipes. Nan was sitting in the stands with us, and a band was about ready to take the field, so Nan suggested that she get out a cookbook. The results were fine, but my niece definitely didn’t like having to cut the chicken. Dislike of touching raw chicken must run through that side of the family! *G*
We got home late, and crashed. Sunday morning we had a few hours with the girls before they went off their separate ways. EM, MSTN, Nan and I had a leisurely breakfast before we had to pack up and hit the road. It was a MUCH too short visit. We all would have liked to stay longer.
The trip home went well. We avoided the road that had the detour, but were still able to drive home through the farmland. We were home in good time, and no one was any worse for the wear.
Nan, and K. and B., thank you SO MUCH, for letting us come to visit. We had a wonderful time, and I’m really looking forward to visiting again!!

I’m almost packed. I have to use the curling iron, finish my hair, and then we can be on the road. Elegante Mother and My-Sister-The-Nurse and I are going to visit my youngest sis, Nan, and her daughters for the weekend.
For the past three years, I’ve been following Nan’s oldest daughter around the northern half of Indiana, watching her high school marching band compete. It’s been an exciting three years for this proud auntie, because the band has been in the top five Class C bands at State all three years. I want to see them in mid-September so that I can determine how much the performance has changed when I see them again in October. We hope to return to Indiana for District contest, and if they make the cut, to State Contest, too. State Contest is held in the Hosier Dome in Indianapolis, October 20. For those involved, the marching season, from mid-July to mid-October, seems to go on forever, but for those watching from the sidelines, it goes by in a flash. I’m fortunate, and delighted, to have a niece who shares my love of band.
Soooo, we are trying to remember all the last minute things that have to be done. I have to water the containers at the front sidewalk, or the plants will be dead when we return. I need to feed the birds. Most of our things are packed. We could have just backed some kind of suction device up to the back door and directed everything in the house into the trunk of my car, and it would have been about as efficient.
The house is clean, most of my office work is done, except for the dreaded filing. I’ve even put some of the fall/Halloween decorations up! I won’t say that I’m going with a clear conscience, but I don’t have a LOT to be guilty about.
I hope you all have a great weekend, and I’ll check in with you when I get back.

I know that I should have jumped out of bed and rushed to embrace the day, but I snoozed in for a bit. We turned on the heat last night. Temperatures in the Chicago area dipped well into the 30s, and I was concerned that my mother might turn blue in the night without a little heat.
In the post below, you’ll see that I’ve finally started working on my basement. I shifted Christmas and Easter decorations to their storage spots along the wall and began the reorganization of the companies papers. Unfortunately, I also stirred up a LOT of dust. Our furnaces draw air from the basement, and along with it, that same dust.
So, this morning we have the snuffles. I’ll have to go out in a bit to do some shopping. Actually, that sounds like a sure way to end my snuffles: get away from the dust!
Dear Husband resolved the situation by going off to sail for the day. I’m betting that he has both the snuffles AND chattering teeth. It’s still pretty cool out there, and it will be colder on the water.
For whatever reason, I’m glad to have the chance to get out today. We have a beautiful, sunny, clear Fall day, and it would be a shame to waste it!
Enjoy the weekend, y’all!

I know you’ll never believe this, but I actually made a start on the mess we call our basement!
The Christmas and Easter decorations have been sitting in stacks on a sorting table in the basement, waiting for me to take the time to reorganize them and store them on the shelves at the wall. A number of years ago I began buying large plastic bins to store decorations. We have mice that think our basement is heaven during the winter, and I need to discourage them from making homes in the decoration boxes.
I spent two hours on Tuesday, and two more on Wednesday morning. I was astonished at what you can get done when you start before dawn and hustle for a couple of hours. Elegante Mother starts our holiday decorating, so I’ve grouped her things together to make it easier to find them. I have several boxes of table decorations, the nativity set, a box of ribbons, and two boxes of wreath making materials. The lights have been grouped in one area, and the wrapping paper is in another, and tree decorations in yet another. This year I may look into the boxes that exist for paper storage. I can save space, and protect the paper, too.
The Easter decorations were easy to organize. I have two boxes of bunnies, baskets, plastic eggs, and a stuffed rabbit that reminds me a little of Bugs Bunny. I still have a little reorganization of the shelves left to do, but that won’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes tops.
In the opposite corner of the basement, we’ve stored business records from 1986 to 2005. I spent some time thinking about those boxes and decided we could make better use of the space. I moved a few things, to get a feel for what’s there, and then dragged Dear Husband downstairs after dinner to get his help. Of course, it’s never possible to do things my way, but I can deal with his modifications if they give us the chance to clean and organize the area. The boxes from 1986 to 1989 have been removed from the wall so that we can sort through them for contracts and tax documents, and we can pitch the rest.
In one pile, we are collecting outdated software and manuals. In another, I’ll be gathering computer hardware. We have several computers that either need to be rebuilt or thrown out. There’s no point in storing them if we’re not going to use them, and there’s an area drop off one Saturday a month for electronic stuff.
The most difficult part of this process is not having a dumpster where I can collect things as I clean. It’s going to take a LONG TIME to clean this basement if it has to be done one garbage can at a time! But, at least we’ve made a start.

Sunday, Dear Husband is giving up a day on the water to take Elegante Mother and me to the races. We have never been to Arlington Park Race Track in Arlington Heights. Actually, I’ve never been to any kind of horse race. I’ve never bet on the ponies, so this will be a new experience for me.
I downloaded some information on betting, and realized right away that we will be confining our betting to “Win, Place or Show” bets. And, we will most likely be making very small wagers, given that we know nothing about the horses or the condition of the track.
Basically, we’re going to have a great afternoon, doing something new. I’m encouraging Elegante Mother to wear one of her red hats! It will be like the Ascot races at Arlington. *G*

I was surprised Wednesday to receive a package of gifts from a friend in Scotland. June and I have not met, but we have a lot in common, including a love of quilting. Two years ago I was planning a visit to Scotland that was postponed, but still hope to get there and meet June.
As I opened the package, it felt like Christmas! There was a red plaid tote bag, a package of heather seeds, a tea towel with Scottish sayings and their English translations, an English quilting magazine, a tray with drawings of Scottish castles, and a very long letter and post cards bringing me up to date with the news at her house. My office work simply stopped while I opened everything and read the letters.
June has sent me some of the most wonderful calendars of Scotland. She knows I’d love to visit and see her homeland personally, so she sends bits and pieces of it to tide me over until I get there. I wish I was as clever as she is in sending gifts. I’ve sent quilting magazines, and a few things from Chicago, but I’ve been rather stymied about what to send. It hasn’t occurred to me that I could send things from all over the USA, and not just from the area where I live. DUH!!
I’m open to suggestions, if you have any to share.
There were two more things in my goodie bag that have me grinning. They are coasters, but not just any coasters. The first gives the word “teuchter” and it’s definition: (choo-chter) Dialect, chiefly Scot. -n 1. (trad.) one who derives from the Highlands of Scotland (a Hielander); more commonly used by city folk to describe rural dwellers. 2. Gaelic-speaker (mostly to each other) esp. at strange Gatherings known as Mods. [definitely not Rockers] Occasionally partakes of a wee dram. (also heuchter teuchter). (June, does this describe Michael??? *G*)
The second coaster just cracks me up. It’s a picture of a Scottish woman from the past, in a long dress or skirt, with a plaid over-skirt or apron, and a cape, using a head strap to carry a mammoth woven basket on her back. The caption to the left of the picture says “Does ma bum look big in this?”
I’ve found a picture of the design that’s been used on “couthie cards,” which must be note cards. Scroll down to where it says “Big Bum Cards” and click on the image. Each time I see this lady I just have to grin!
June, thank you, SO much for your generosity, and for my daily grins! *G*