Well…..perhaps a little joy…
I didn’t intend to dress in black today, but I realized late in the morning that from head to toe, I was swathed in black. Black shoes and socks, black slacks, a black silk shirt….everything is black. It must have been because I felt the need to mourn.
I had such incredibly high hopes for the Cubs. They have had the most amazing year. We’ve been so used to them loosing that they set a fire under us and sparked the rush to rejoice: WE COULD WIN!!!
As true Cubs fans, we will now focus on the fact that we have a competitive team who brought us great joy this year. And we’ll pat each other on the back and say…..”There’s always next year!
Congratulations CUBS! Thanks Dusty Baker for and incredible year! See you next Spring.

Do you have a keepsake that you keep near you, even when you travel? Is there something you need to have nearby at all times?
I haven’t experienced this as an adult, but as a young child I had a blanket that had to be available to me or the uproar would be unbearable. It was a thin child’s quilt that was a faded pink. I’d leave it on the floor until bedtime to chill it. I’d form a circle with my thumb and last three fingers and draw the blanket through the circle to chill my cheek, and I bent my index finger and sucked on it.
Mother says that I used to stand next to the washer and dryer when I was forced to give the blanket up to be washed. She couldn’t pry me loose. I was probably about six when my father used Blankie as a rag. They tried to find all sorts of substitutes, but it was never the same. I could never get them to admit that it was a conspiracy to get me to stop sucking my index finger.
Today, I discovered what happens when your parents aren’t successful in weaning you from your childhood talismen. You become a 25 year old who carries a blanket and a teddy everywhere you go. Can’t you see having to explain about the blanket to your boss? Worse yet…..how to you tell your lover to “GET OFF MY BLANKIE!”?? Or when your four year old reaches for your teddy….”Touch my teddy and DIE!”
All I can say is……”Thanks, Mom and Dad, for helping me give it up!”

Yeah….who would have guessed they’d see ME talking about sports!? It’s been a lifetime endeavor to avoid all things sporting, because most of the teams near me have been the pits!
I know….the Cubbies lost last night, but we’re not out of the running yet. And to be a Cubs fan you have to take the “hope springs eternal” pledge. For years we have said “There’s always next year.” So the headline in the Trib a week ago was…..”Next year is here.” I have faith that the Cubs will go on to the World Series.
And that brings me to what I actually wanted to say. I assume that the World Series is played on the home fields of the competing teams. If that’s the case, and if the Red Sox beat the Yankees to get to the World Series, we (The CUBS) need to get the field crew busy creating a kick-ass design for our infield!
Did you see how they mowed the infield where the Red Sox play?? It’s a jazzed up version of a variable star….a pattern any quilter would recognize! I swear they must use GPS to guide the mowers! I’m really impressed, and feel that we need to prepare our own field so that we can stand the comparison.
Quilters, e-mail your suggestions to Ron Santo and Pat Huges at WGN, right away!
And while I have your attention, if you are a Sox or Yankees fan, plan to be on your best behavior when you come to Chicago. We want to win MORE than you do, but that doesn’t mean fighting during the game is okay.
Here endeth the sports report for the day.

To rant, or not to rant, that is the question. Every now and then it just bursts out of me. Most times I can manage to maintain my cool. I believe it’s healthy to rant, and I’m not sure why I don’t rant more, since it feels Sooooo GOOD!

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Defer and I were out walking this afternoon. Remember that tree that I described a week ago Sunday? I was sitting in the kitchen as the sun rose, and it set the top of the tree into a golden fire? Well, in just one short week the tree completely turned to flame and then dropped all it’s leaves. All that is left is the skeleton.
Our lot is bordered by a walking path, and the path is edged with trees. There are a lot of black walnut trees that hang over the path. Usually in September they drop their leaves, and then you see the black walnuts ripening on the bare branches. This year the leaves and the walnuts fell about the same time, and the path is littered with husks and leaf trash.

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The Cubs WON last night! They WON!!! WooooooooAhhhhhhhhhhh!
This is the first time in 58 years that the Cubs have played in a post season play off. There aren’t a lot of people left who can remember them winning, so this feels like a miracle to most of us. Heck….the last time they made it all the way to the World Series was in 1908.
If you love the Cubs, you have learned to deal with disappointment, but that makes this season all the sweeter! Die-hard Cubs fans feel vindicated for their faith after a lifetime of loosing.
GO CUBS!!! GO CUBS!!! GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were planning on going out to brunch this morning, as a late celebration of my birthday. One of my all time favorite restautants is Pappadeaux, a Cajun place that is part of the Pappas brother’s chain. There are two in the Chicago area, and I’m relieved that none of them are any closer than 30 minutes, or I’d LIVE there.
We visited Jamie and Speedbump for New Years two years ago, and I discovered that they have ALL the Pappas restaurants in one place. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. There are at least six restaurants that feature seafood, barbeque, steak, Mexican, Cajun and Italian. Each restaurant features one cusine, and has “pappa” built into the name (Pappadeaux, Pappacitos, Pappas Brothers, etc.)
At any rate….we were supposed to go to brunch this morning, but it seems a cold has set in, and no one was up for it. That’s a first! We’ve spent a quiet morning. DH has been watching the History and Sci-Fi channels, I’ve been reading mail and blogging and Mother has been knitting and watching HGTV.
One of the problems associated with a change of plans like this is always…..what will we do for dinner. Today, it seems we are in luck.

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We are one of the legion of people who have cable TV. Our reception is so bad that we wouldn’t bother to turn the TV on if we didn’t have cable or dish reception.
About two weeks ago, DH turned the TV on and discovered there was absolutely no picture. We had a fuzzy gray screen and noisey static. So, he called to report that we were having a problem.

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Have you ever thought about how we decide what a job is worth? To me, a buck a shirt at the cleaners is well worth not having to wash and iron shirts, and I’m at the stage in my life where I’d rather pay someone to wash the high windows and clean out the gutters.
“The Girls” on WGN were talking about how we set salaries. They felt that we should consider the following guidelines: If you love your job you get pennies to do it. If you have a dreadful job, you get $6,000,000 for it.

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We have a plethora of Farmer’s Markets in our area from late May to late October. Most of them carry products other than farm grown crops, and they are a delight to the senses.
Shrimp, crab, kale, pumpkins, glads, squash, lettuce, vinegars, honey, mushrooms, apples, bread, cheese, ears of dried corn, bales of straw, dried sunflower heads, the last tomatoes and corn of the year. You can make incredible meals from the bounty they sell.
I’ll miss the giant garlic heads, and leeks, the tiny pickle cucumbers, the fresh green beans, and the raspberries, and the man who sharpens my knives.
We’re blessed with abundance. The Farmer’s Market is the best way I know to get food at it’s freshest. Seven months, and they’ll be back. I’ll know that summer is almost upon us when the Market opens again.