OUT ON THE WATER....finally....

We headed into Chicago today and actually got to SAIL!! Our son, and nephew JD joined us. Sadly, it took forever to get there. Today was a big day in Chicago, the Cubs played, the Blackhawks played the 1st game in the Stanley Cup, there was a parade that blocked off State Street (that great street)... so getting to the harbor was no small feat.

After what seemed like several days we finally got to the harbor and sailed. There was no dilemma with the boat that necessitated any maintenance, or attention, so we just headed out and sailed. It was a beautiful day.J.D.
Corbin at the helm



Unfortunaly, the boys had to head back early, so they only got to enjoy a couple hours, but hey, that's better than nothing - right??

And, tomorrow is another day.

A FAB GIVEAWAY.....

Check this out... what a generous blogger. Go there, and you could win a Sizzex Big Shot. It looks like a mighty fun toy!!!

POPPPIES...and more senseless death

Yesterday was tragic in our little town. A sweet local girl, whom life has been very cruel to was killed in a car accident. She was ready to graduate from High School on Sunday. This poor girl has had nothing good come her way. First she lost her mother, then her father to premature death. Left with her brother, when they both were too young to fend for themselves, they seemed to drift from place to place. Not being taken in by the people who one would have thought would. I shouldn't sit in judgement, but, seriously, if my sister and her husband suddenly died, I have 4 more kids... making my 'children' range in age from 5 to 28... just call me Mrs. Duggar.

Anyway, she ran a stop sign on a gravel road, and just like that it's over. So tragic. So senseless, and so sad.

I heard this at school, where we were all bemoaning our fate for next year. Suddenly that became inconsequential. We were all speechless. The day ended, I left for home and stopped to get my mail. In my mail, I received an invitation to her graduation party. I lost it, right there at my mailbox. This is one of those times when life just doesn't make sense.

So today, I am finding beauty in my poppies... aren't they pretty- given to me by my Aunt Hallie who had the greenest of thumbs. I'm so delighted that I've kept them alive and have so enjoyed the flowers every year.




Question....does anyone have a good recipe for opium?

RANDOM WEEKEND HAPPENINGS......

It was a short, hot weekend. Saturday, my Capt. and I headed into the boat. It was sunny, hot and breezy at home. It was gray, foggy and strange at the boat. We were disappointed...ha!! It was only beginning.

Overcoming our disappointment, we seized the moment and sanded and re-varnished the 'brightwork' on the boat. (that would be the teak that is outside the boat, for you non sailors!!) Then we had a snack, and I had a nap, and lo and behold, the strange fog burned off and it became a fairly nice day!! So, we decided to head out...only to discover that a sail clip was broken (not a crisis) and the roller furling was jazzed. Small crisis. WHAT.IS.GOING.ON????

There was also a little dilemma, in the fact that there was no wind. We have a sailboat, remember? So we headed in, I sat on the deck while my Capt. assessed what needed to be done.

Let us not forget the definition of the word boat (see previous post)

Sunday my family opened my mom's swimming pool. I missed this fun event, as I helped host a bridal shower for a dear friend's daughter in law to be. It was lovely, if I do say so myself. And it was hot, so I had a wardrobe crisis. I'm kinda white to be real exposed. So I spent the morning trying on things and discarding them on the bed...where they were waiting for me when I arrived home. Ugh.

Here are the hostesses with the pretty bride.and the cupcake treeI've wanted one, this gave me an excuse to buy one! I put together one of the centerpieces to go with our gardening theme She is definitely a 'pink' kind of girl, it was a challenge to find pink gardening things..I love a shopping challenge.

(pictures courtesy of Jillian)

Got home from the shower, expecting to have time with my husband, only to be told by him, he had to leave asap as he needed to head somewhere other than his usual destination. So he readied himself, I changed and we flew into the airport, dropped him and came home.

Today I'm meeting about 'CHEEKYRADISH' stuff...we've got some fun planned, stay with us, or join us. You want to be in the know, and around for freebies! They're coming!!

MEN AT WORK?

We kept our little nephew Willie on Monday morning. He REALLY likes 'Uncle Mark'. He actually arrived before I got up; and was well into 'man stuff' when I ventured down. First, he needed eggs. I don't eat eggs in any form and, yes, it's true, I've NEVER cooked one. Well, I have hard boiled them for egg dying, but to eat- NEVER.

ANYWAY.... he acknowledged me, but it was clear, he was hanging with his uncle. After they had scrambled eggs, and popsicles... there was work to be done. I had purchased two new toilet seats and they headed off to install them...

Then of course, he had to have a few MORE popsicles, and then play with 'MY' power rangers, as he calls them, and a couple of yard sticks, that were doubling as swords.
And uncle Mark needed to play too and the conversation was hysterical..who was the kid here? Of course, HE HAD to drive him to school....in the convertible, with the top down, in between rain storms!

They had fun.

IT ISN'T ALWAYS FUN...

BOAT: A large hole in the water which one pours money.
My 'Capt.' and I set forth on Saturday, for a day at sea... (okay on the lake). We got in to the city FINALLY...OMG- the traffic, another post. Anyway I had the bright idea to pick up Panera on the way... well, that was just one of the many omens, we chose to ignore.

After waiting in line I ordered, waited for them to call my incognito name I always use, as my first name is different, and it's just easier to use another. So I waited, and waited... and finally they called me up.. to tell me that one of the sandwiches was going to take 6 minutes. Okay... so I waited and was once again summoned... another 6 minutes. C'mon? But could they offer us free pastries to make up for the wait? Okay, add to my fat, but I took them.

In the meantime, my poor husband was battling the traffic outside, that encompassed the kids from Columbia moving out. He wasn't having fun either. We finally got the food and headed over to the boat.

The weather left a LOT to be desired. But, we were in Chicago, on the water, on our own boat.... which had a slight problem or TWO...

A pin had come loose allowing the boom to whip around and snap a line.... and the bilge was FULL of water... indicating a leak? My husband, who swear to god, can figure anything out.. assessed the situation and addressed it.

What you can't see in the picture, is his glasses.. I'm laughing as I'm writing this... they kept sliding now his nose as he was contorted in a strange position, so I came up with the clever idea to take some blue painter's tape (that I don't know why was on the boat) and tape them to the sides of his face. It was hysterical- here we are on the lake at the Chicago Yacht Club and my husband is shimmying down into the engine compartment with his glasses taped to the sides of his head... we sure know how to fit in, don't we?!?
Crisis averted, it was something that is supposed to drip every now and then to keep the engine cool, and it was dripping way to often. But not anymore.

We checked on it this afternoon... all's well.

MOTHER'S DAY...BRRRRR.....

Saturday night our daughter, Jessica had us over for dinner. Actually, she had my mom, her boyfriend Blain's parents and us over for Mother's Day. It was lovely. She is quite the little domestic goddess, who really doesn't have a moutsache. Yummy food, margarita's (from the family machine) cupcakes and just plain fun. Our son arrived later, ate and hung out. Unfortunately, our middle daughter couldn't join us. Jessica and Blain's neighbors stopped by and we stayed for a little while, but had to get home fairly early as we were attempting once again for the weekend, to sail the boat to Chicago.

Which we did accomplish. HOWEVER...... it was not the most fun Mother's Day I've ever encountered. Cold would be an understatement. The sun was out- that WAS in our favor. But the temperature had to be in the 40's. I tried to be a good sport about it, but c'mon- it was beginning to have Titanic overtones to it.

First, the damn wind wasn't in our favor, so we had to tack- which is kinda like getting there zig zag - which of course takes even longer. Second, it got rough, so water was splashing over the bow, and at some times with quite a bit of force- splashing EVERYWHERE.
Lovely on a hot summer day, but this was a cold spring day.... not lovely. Third, our daughter, who lives in Chicago, came out to our house...where we weren't for mother's day. In theory we would have been home for dinner....hahaha. Not even close.
So, we did FINALLY get to Chicago, after 8 hours. YES, I SAID 8. Then we needed to find our buoy, set the harness up, batten down the hatches (I've always wanted to say that)check in and high tail it to the train so we could ride the train BACK to Waukegan to get our car. Well, the train did get us there a bit before 10 pm. So we finally got home about 11:15. It was a long, cold day.
I did get flowers, an I.O.U. for some garden plants from my son, Corbin; a really pretty pink mini rose plant from my daughter Jessica. Scarlett gave me my very own crown!! This is a ha ha in my family because, she has her prom queen crown, which, OKAY, when she got it, it came with a presentation box and a friend snapped the best picture of her dancing in it and I had them sitting out together. (no it wasn't a shrine) Everyone gave me a hard time... hey, it was a mother moment!!

All in all, it was a Mother's Day to be remembered.... kinda reminded me of a line from my girl Bab's trademark song 'cold and wet, tired you bet, but all that I soon forget with my man'. Only, no I won't forget, not for a very, very long time, maybe ever.

SAILING? NOT.....

I picked my husband up from the airport last night, car loaded with clothes for a couple days stay, and all the 'things' needed for the big sail from Waukegan to Chicago. He got in early! That is a rarity and fairly amazing. We headed on up to Waukegan in time to get into the Marina and view our boat, just hanging out.
We headed to the hotel, checked in and went over to Gurnee Mills. For those of you non Chicago readers, this is a large outlet mall. I managed to pick up a couple pair of pants, a shirt and a sweatshirt and some socks (the reason we went). Then on to dinner and back to the hotel, so we could get an early start....right.

Got up this morning and wouldn't it figure, today was the day the weatherman was actually right on. It was crappy out. A big storm had hit and the remnants were lingering. It was cold and gray and wet. We went to the boat anyway...with sunshine in our hearts! Let me tell ya, that's the only place it was, and it soon left there too.

Our day was just a cluster.... first the weather, then a small problem with the impeller (whatever that is) then the missing jib lines. So all in all....not a stellar day; the boat's still in the harbor, in Waukegan and we are home, scratching our heads and wondering who the hell steals jib lines?

THE GREAT EUROPEAN ADVENTURE CONT....

I did a couple more pages of the gazillion pictures from the GEA (GREAT EUROPEAN ADVENTURE)... nothing really worthy of a drumroll...so without further ado- here you go....

So beyond that, I did do an invitation, well, really MANY for a wedding shower, and somehow ended up without one to show you. My bad. I'm going to the Scrappy Cat tonight, maybe I'll create something outstanding to show you all tomorrow... stay tuned.

On another note, this weekend is supposed to be the boat launch. We sail her from Waukegan to Chicago. My husband rearranged his schedule to come in on Thursday, we have a reservation in scenic Waukegan that night, so we'll be right there to sail out on Friday morning. All organized....NOT....forgot one thing....it's spring in Chicago. The weather is not in cooperation mode. It's supposed to be cool and have THUNDERSTORMS. Not good sailing weather at all. So we'll see, we may have to shoot for another day. I wanted to avoid Saturday, as my daughter is having us over for dinner for Mother's Day. Not sure how this will play out. But, hopefully of the four days we have, one will be nice.

I am also really EXCITED! One of my best friends from little girl-hood on is coming in for the weekend. Can't WAIT to see her!!

THE LAKE HOUSE....

I went on a 'girls weekend'....well, in my case it was a 'girls night'. I only stayed one night, because Mark was only going to be home for two days, and I wanted to see him. ANYWAY, I went with some friends, it was a celebration, two of these ladies just graduated with their masters! So we celebrated this fabulous achievement.

I'd really like to tell you about the weekend, about the food and drink, the poker, the cigarette, the music, the laughs, the porch adornment....but....what happens at the Lake House, stays at the Lake House. Right? Right.

So use your imagination.