Time to Remember

Here we are going over the scrapbooks together.

Mom seems to thoroughly enjoy seeing the old photos and the longer we go at it, the more things she seems to remember. I am so thankful for

this time we have together!

My Mom, Vera, has just celebrated her 85th birthday. She has "normal" memory capacity for a woman of her age. However, we notice at times, that her memory is more challenged. I am realizing it is important to record her stories and timeline now. So, with old scrapbooks in tow, and with the help of Wes asking a lot of questions, I am finding out more about the young years of my mother. What a blessing...and a hoot of laughter at times when I hear the stories of my Mom pre-marriage! She thought her little hometown of Marquette was too boring, and left for Salina, then Topeka for the taste of "Big City" life. She shared an apartment with Luella and outgoing twins, Vivian and Virginia, and they got in trouble for entertaining young men in their apartment at night. She had more beaus than I thought she did, which I guess is why we call her a "man magnet" now after having been courted by Bob in Colorado and now being escorted to Sunday night Vesper services with cute 92 year old Clarence!

Oh, and here's what she had to say about the Oscars when we asked her if she would be watching the TV after we left: "You mean that show with all the exposed breasts?"

On My Mind

I don't usually post much of anything substantial, but the time has come for me to post something on my mind: the abuse of blogging.

Recently, something very negative on a blog site - YouTube to be specific - has caused somewhat of an uproar for a certain community. An individual thought it would be funny to put out a post that could give close-up details of an event that was supposed to be harmless. Mistakes were made on ALL sides, but this particular post caused many people to be

exposed, embarassed, shaken, reprimanded harshly, and accused. What was this person thinking? Is this okay? My opinion: I think not!

The reason I blog is to update those I know and love with the everyday details of what is going on in our lives. Nothing highly controversial, nothing embarassing, nothing too personal...just, hopefully, something that will bring a smile or a thought to others. Lord knows, the world is already a tough place in which to exist with everyday woes of homelessness, hunger, war, unrest, global warming, weather disasters....you name it. Why make the world any uglier by putting "seedy" on blogspots??? And then spreading the word just to get viewer hits...and, ultimately, the attention of disciplinarians?

I love opinions (like Sarah's about the commercialization of President's Day), I love life journey/pictures of a miracle baby (like Sanne), I love hearing from long-lost friends (like Eda), I love insights from family (like Anne and Jed), I love good writing in general (Samara), I love seeing what the snow is like in Colorado (Linnea), I love hearing from our "Wedding Singer" and his dear family (Marn and Tracy), I love knowing what my first grand-nephew (Cal) is up to and I love hearing from Sweden (Elin).

So, to anyone who could possibly read this, thank you for your blogs that I so enjoy reading. You have enlightened and cheered me. To the one who posted the blog that caused so many negative reactions and actions...please let this be a defining moment in your life and learn from your mistake tenfold. It really wasn't very funny.

All That Jazz! And Lou's!!!

Our friends, Carol and Mark, have a very talented son, Sean, who plays the saxophone. As it was the NP Jazz Ensemble concert in Chicago at NP this past weekend, Mark and Carol flew west to attend this concert.

As we are friends from waaaay back we wanted to attend this concert at NP and see our good friends. And get to hear some fine jazz to boot! The guest musician was Kathy Kosins and we enjoyed her vocalizations: she reminded us of Diana Krall.

We finished the outing with a trip to Lou Malnatti's in Lincolnwood. Can I just say that the Lou's salad, the pizza and then the deep dish chocolate chip cookie topped with ice cream and whipped cream tasted absolutely marvelous??

My Sweetie Then and Now!

Valentines' Day love

to my one and only,

my better half,

my soul mate,

my partner,

my sweetie pie!

It's been a great 30 plus years!

A Little "Lovie"

One of my passions is to sew, and especially to quilt! When Anne was a young girl, I tried to encourage her to share my passion of stitching, but she chose other outlets for expressing her creativity. So, this post is to celebrate Anne's request to take needle in hand and create a "lovie" for a little sweetheart about to be born! Anne came here on a Saturday with a sewing project in mind...a sweet, little place-on-the-floor quilt for a baby girl to lay on comfortably. It must be fluffy, soft and small. (She found her idea from the cool book, Last-Minute Fabric Gifts by Cynthia Treen.) Anne carefully "auditioned" fabrics for just the right combination for the Nordlund baby. Then, she measured, rotary cut, ironed, sewed, and hand stitched away! Knowing Anne, this is a true labor of love!

Voila...the finished project! I'm so proud of you, Anne! And congratulations to Barbara and Nathan on the birth of little Sanne Grace this past Friday. We hear she is a beautiful baby and all are well!

My Funny Valentine(s)

Below:They look so innocent here on the plane, don't they? But, they were chilling after being my funny family and taking these goofy photos!

My Funny Valentine(s) ~ Frank Sinatra

My funny valentine(s)

Sweet comic valentine(s)

You make me smile with my heart

Your looks are laughable,

Unphotographable

Yet you're my favorite work(s) of art.

Thanks for all the fun you add to my life, guys. I love you! (By the way, they actually took these pictures of each other while goofing around with my camera when we were waiting at an airport together last winter.)

And, Anne and Jed, Happy 7 month Anniversary TODAY!

My Sweethearts

From youngest to oldest, I love my nieces and nephews! I had so much

fun making valentines for all of them (under the age of 10), and sending little treats off to them in the mail. Happy Valentine's Day to Jackson, Laena, Karl, Jeffrey, Grace and Samatha. I love you!

And for those over the age of 10: Vicki, Becca, Ryan, Eric (Cherith), Kurt (Denee),Linnea, Carl, Peter, Andrew (Timi) and Jennifer, I love you, too!!!!! Happy Valentine's Day to one and ALL!

And a special shout-out to my great niece, Ava, and my great nephew, Calvin.

You are my littlest sweethearts.

Food Fest Continues...Onion Loaf and Dutch Baby!

The post-birthday celebration has continued this week with being treated to meals out...and pigout eating. Good thing we recently joined a health club - haha! Pigout #1: The oh-so-deep-fried, oh-so-fat, oh-so-caloried, oh-so-greasy, oh-so-tasty onion loaf...and believe it or not this is only the HALF loaf! My wonderful friend, Marti, treated me to a tasty lunch at Hackney's in Lake Zurich. Here we "digest" in front of the cozy fire. Pigout #2:The delectable, delicious and decidedly decadent DUTCH BABY! Served with fresh lemon wedges, powdered sugar and maple syrup! John treated me to a lunch out together. How honored I am that a 20 year old son would want to go out one-on-one with me! My choice: Walker Brothers Original Pancake House in Wilmette.

Please, Cherith?

This little cutie pie recently turned ONE (insert sweetly sung "Happy Birthday" song here)and his mother needs to update her blog to show us all the pictures of the big day AND also show off his new haircut (which I hear makes him look like a really big boy!!!) Please, Cherith??? I am having "Adventures of Calvin the Great" withdrawal pangs!