Lisa's New Pad

After month's of searching my little sister finally bought herself a home. She is extremely excited to become a first time homeowner and we are all very proud of her. Here are a couple of pictures of the new place. She just closed on Friday and has spent the weekend cleaning and painting. She won't officially move in for a couple of more weeks once she has everything set up and ready. At that time, I am sure we will have more pictures to post. In the meantime here are a few.

Solid brick home -
She will be getting a new roof next week and having a couple of trees cut down and replaced this summer.

The back yard patio area - complete with privacy fence.

The garage and built in gas grill - great for parties...

And the happy homeowner standing in the kitchen - thinking of all the work she needs to do!

Congratulations Lisa!

More Snow?

OK - Let me preface this by saying that I really love living in Illinois. We are surrounded with all of our family and some very incredible friends. We enjoy the 4 seasons and we love Chicago. We would die without regularly going to White Sox games, and because we don't live in a tropical climate we REALLY enjoy vacations when we get a chance to get away. There are a lot of things to do here - year round - and we can regularly enjoy everything from snowboarding to swimming. Its nice to make hot chocolate in the winter after building a snowman and white Christmases just can't be beat. Lounging in the pool on a hot summer day and having late night bonfires with friends through the fall are wonderful things. Having a walk in closet is a necessity as living in the Midwest requires an extensive wardrobe - but hey, variety is the spice of life - right?

But once in a while, I have to think - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY - OK?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll just stop typing at this point and post my picture. Here is our back yard on the evening of Thursday, March 27th. That's right just 4 days before April 1st.

I think even the dogs were in disbelief by this unexpected snowfall!

Gretchen Arrives!

On March 26, 2008 our friends Jen and Nathan welcomed their first child into the world. They delivered a healthy beautiful baby girl and named her Gretchen Barbara. I was lucky enough to be able to get away from work for a few hours on Thursday to get up to the hospital and see the little one. She is absolutely incredible. We are very happy for our friends and look forward to watching little Gretchen grow up over the years. If you want to see more pictures of this little darling, just click on the name "Jen" in my blogroll and you can see some more! Here is a picture of me holding her just under one day old! Congratulations Jen & Nathan! She's beautiful!

Pretty Payton

Dennis has a lifelong friend named Joe. While Dennis and Joe grew up together, Joe went to college in Alabama where he met his wonderful wife. They are now living in Florida and have been blessed with a beautiful daughter - Payton. While we may live hundreds of miles apart we have enjoyed watching Payton grow up both in pictures and in person. We have managed to get together a couple of times a year and we stay in touch through emails and phone calls. Our next trip to Florida will be this summer for Payton's baptism. Dennis has been honored in being asked to be Payton's Godfather. We are very excited for this trip and can't wait to see the entire family. Here is a picture of Payton in her very own Harley t-shirt which we sent to her this winter as a birthday gift. I wonder if that's a Harley trike she is riding? Isn't she absolutely adorable?

The Luck of the Irish

I think that this post is appropriately named the Luck of the Irish. Below you will see a picture of my grandfather. If you look back into my post from October 3, 2007 you will read about the West Nile virus. In late August of last year, Grandpa was infected with the West Nile virus through a mosquito bite he got in his own back yard. It was an awful experience. He was in the hospital for 3 months. The first few weeks were horrible and the prognosis was grim, but grandpa fought through it. Today he doesn't even remember the time that he was in the hospital. He had encephalitis and what could have been irreversible brain damage. The doctors were so amazed that he lived through the ordeal that it didn't seem a big deal that he may never function the same. However, he is doing better than ever. He has been through months of physical therapy. As his therapy ended last week, he has now purchased a gym membership where he continues to work out. As he has made a complete recovery in strength and mental ability he has been released to drive again. He was even vacuuming the living room last week. We all feel very lucky to have Grandpa in our lives. He comes from a long line of Irishman and in this picture you can see him celebrating Saint Patrick's day a couple of weeks ago. Thanks again for all of your prayers that helped in getting Grandpa back to normal after enduring the West Nile virus. It truly is nothing short of a miracle for which we are all very grateful.

Happy Birthday Lisa

My sister Lisa turned 25 this month. We celebrated by taking her out on March 14th. Since bars are few and far between in Beecher, we headed to the booming metropolis or Bourbonnais. We spent the evening at Oliver's, The Landing, and Out on a Limb. A good time was had by all.

Julie

Lisa and Dennis

Andrea's Pre-wedding Festivities

March 15th was both the bridal shower and bachelorette party for my stepsister Andrea. Her wedding will be on May 17th (2 days before our 2 year anniversary!) Here are some pictures from the day. We started off with a Bridal shower in Bourbonnais. Later that night we went downtown to Chicago. Across the street from Wrigley field we had drinks and dinner at Vines Restaurant. It was a wild scene with the St. Patrick's day parade having been earlier that day. Afterwards we went to Improv Olympic right across the street to see an improv comedy show. A great time was had by all.

Andrea with her sister Sonya.

Lisa, Andrea, Sonya, Julie - sisters

Andrea & Lisa with some of the bridesmaids at Improv Olympic.

Tony is Terific!

On the Thursday before Easter I had the privilege of babysitting my nephew Tony. We had a great time. In the 3 short hours we had to hang out together we managed to die 2 dozen Easter eggs and make chocolate chip cookies (which everyone enjoyed on Easter!) We had a lot of fun making eggs for everyone and mixing colors together. However I think we had more fun when I taught Tony about licking the beaters after mixing together cookie dough. He was amazed by this sweet treat! Check him out - he's gonna be a ladykiller someday - Look at those dimples! - what a cutie!

Nate is Great!

A couple of weeks ago we had our nephew Nathan spend the night on a Friday night. We had a really good time. Because of some coinciding plans, Nate came out to dinner with us as we joined some friends at a seafood restaurant. I realized that the assumption that all kids hate seafood is not correct! Nate not only had shrimp for dinner but he tried (and loved) calamari, crab cakes, lobster, crab legs, scallops, and perch. Dinner was a success as was the sleepover. The next morning we made breakfast together, went to Nate's basketball game and then came back home to play with his uncle's RC car. A good time was had by all!

Here Fishy Fishy....

About a month ago we decided to upgrade our 20 gallon fishtank to this nice new 60 gallon tank. I was hesitant about it at first because the tank is in my office and the new one would be taking up more room. But in the end it came out great and it is much more pleasing to look at. I was worried about adding new fish - afraid that the original fish might kill the new ones - but we did it right and now 6 weeks later they are all still living in harmony. Currently we have 2 goldfish, a lavendar grommie, and a plecosthamus that are all about 3-4 years old. We have since added 3 tiger barbs and 2 pink kissing grommies. Since they are in my office, I pretty much watch these guys all day long. At least I have something nice to look at!

My New Computer

For quite some time I have been looking around and asking for advice on purchasing anew desktop computer. When I quit my job and started my own business I stopped using my former employer's computer and sent it back to them. At that point I was left with just my laptop. I have a CompaqPresario laptop with an AMD Processor and an 80 GB hard drive. I have had it for about 3-4 years now and I really like it. I have actually never had a problem with it. However I have something like 12,000 pictures and 1,000 songs stored on it and memory is getting low. Plus with starting my own business I wanted to store my data on a desktop rather than a laptop. As the Compaq slowed down significantly, I stepped up my search for a desktop computer. This weekend I bought one and I am REALLY happy with it.

With a trip to Tiger Direct in Orland, I got a Lenovo computer with an Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor that has 2GM DDR2 RAM and a 320 GB SATAII Hard Drive. The Operating System is Vista, which I was skeptical about at first, but as I have used it over the weekend I have come to actually like it. I have run into a few small bugs here and there, but nothing that I wasn't able to easily fix myself within 5 minutes. Most of which included upgrading the verions of Adobe, etc. that I was using. Overall, I think that Vista is user friendly and I have not had any problems in transferring data from my old XP machine to the new Vista one. In addition to the awesome amount of memory and storage space on the new Lenovo, it also just looks awesome. The graphics are phenominal as compared to my old machine and there are other little features like a DVD recorder drive, etc.

I went with a 22 inch Acer monitor. My husband has a 20 inch Acer monitor that he loves. As I looked around the store, I also fell in love with it. (Mine's bigger than his - I think he is jealous). The monitor comes with the ability to use it with HD cables as well.

Overall I was VERY happy with everything. The computer came in at about $450 (with a $50 mail in rebate) and the monitor was $200. I did splurge for Microsfot Office 2007 (for an additional $130) because I use MS Office on a daily basis and wasn't too interested in the free virtual office options. Call me old school - but I like to have my own software. For $650 I got what I think is an awesome computer and monitor for a ridiculously better price than what I saw at places like Best Buy, Circuit City, even WalMart. Thank you Tiger Direct!

Taxes and Fines

A tax is a fine for doing well. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. What do you call a tax for being sick? I am a bit irritated this morning. Last week my husband called in sick to work for the first time in 2 years. He was really sick with an upper respiratory infection. He had worked Saturday and Sunday but by Sunday night he was a wreck. He called in sick on Monday morning and I called the doctor to make an appointment for him. Most people who call in sick to work don't go to the doctor. Rather they take some time off, take some over the counter medicine, eat soup and drink tea, and get some rest. Unfortunately my husband works for a big company. They don't recognize the fact that he hasn't called in for 2 years. It means nothing to them. If anyone takes a sick day, they are required to have proof of the fact that they were sick by seeing a doctor. The doctor is required to fill out a FMLA (family medical leave act) paper stating that he saw the patient, and what the diagnosis was, etc. Personally, I think that this is ridiculous. However I can understand that when other employees abuse their sick time everyone will have to pay for it. Hence the forms. That is just how big businesses run. Everyone is a number. So, upon returning to work last week, my husband brought home his FMLA form. I brought it to the doctor's office yesterday only to be notified that the doctor will be charging a $25 fee to fill this form out. In the past 10 years we have NEVER encountered a doctor who charges money to fill out this form. It takes literally one minute. On top of that, the receptionist was a first class bi*** telling me that it is ridiculous to think a doctor would fill this out for free and then telling me that it would be 7 business days before I got it back. I was angry of course. The paper is due back to work before then. Frustrated and knowing there was nothing I could do, I just smiled and left them with the papers. About three hours later my husband receives a phone call from the doctor's office telling him that his FMLA papers are done and ready to be picked up. So much for 7 business days. She then reiterates the fact that we must pay $25 before they will give us the papers back. While I really like our doctor, I think his policy of charging $25 to fill out a form is complete BS. I wonder if he charges kids $25 to write them a note to miss gym class. It would likely take him more time to write such a note than to check a few boxes on an FMLA form. I know I shouldn't let little things like this bother me - but thinking about it this morning it has got my blood pressure up and I am seriously thinking about finding a new doctor.

Season Tickets

As many of you know I am a big White Sox fan. I started going to the Old Comiskey at the age of 2 and have thoroughly enjoyed every ballgame I have ever been to. When the new Comiskey was built (before it was so creatively renamed US Cellular Field) my dad took me early to a game on Kodak camera day. Being one of the first 500 people there we got to go on the field and meet the players. This was a HUGE deal for me as I was obsessed with Ozzie Guillen. I had every Ozzie baseball card ever printed and I even dressed up as Ozzie for Halloween one year. At that time, Ozzie was playing shortstop for the Sox. When he came over to where we were standing my dad said "Ozzie here is your biggest fan!" and there I was - about 10 years old - all smiles. Ozzie let me take a picture of him, gave me a big kiss on the cheek, took of his #13 wristband and gave it to me and said "I'm your biggest fan too sweetheart." 2 years ago my husband bought me a 1985 Guillen White Sox Jersey.

For the past few years we have gone to 3-5 games each year. Every time we talk about getting some sort of season ticket package. Now there is an Ozzie pack of tickets where you can pick 13 games to go to. For 2 people, these tickets cost about $750.00. The plus side is that we would get to see a lot of games, and that we would get first pick at some of the hard to get tickets each year. The negative side is that we would be paying for parking 13 times, and who can go to the ballpark without getting a hot dog (at $8 or so) - ultimately we would be spending about $1,000.00 on this season. Now, if we were not getting the tickets we may very well be spending money on doing other things if we weren't at the games. So, I am currently up in the air about it. Has anyone else purchased any kind of season tickets before? Was it worth it? Do you think we should do it or should we just save our money for something else?

Vanilla Sky

A couple of years ago we bought the movie Vanilla Sky but we never watched it - until last night. If you haven't seen it, I would suggest renting it. It was a great flick and now has me in the mood to watch "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Game." Maybe I will rent them later this week. I've also been wanting to watch "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil," which I have never seen before. Normally I am not all that into watching movies. It is hard for me to sit in front of the TV for more than a half hour. But, after my inspiring movie night last night, I am thinking of re-joining netflix. Anyone have any good recommendations on other movies that we should see?

We're From the Country

After attending mass this Sunday I grabbed a church bulletin. Inside of the bulletin there was a flyer advertising for a benefit to be held in order to raise money for someone in the community on Saturday March 29th. The flyer stated that there would be a Bean Bag Tournament, Cocktails, Dinner, Silent Auction, Live Auction, Raffles, Entertainment, etc." then on the back side of the flyer it says "Raffle Tickets $5 each - 1st place: Benelli Nova 12 gauge Shotgun, 2nd place: Remington 870 Express 12 gauge or 20 gauge" Now how country is that? They are giving firearms at a benefit for someone? wow! I never expected to go to church and learn how I could win a gun! I swear, we are not hillbillies!

Spring is in the Air

So Spring isn't officially here yet - but it's on its way and I am already feeling so much better. The time change was rough for a day or two, but I'm adjusted now and when I can still see the sun shining at 6:30pm it just makes me smile. I can't wait for those long summer nights - laying in the pool and watching the sun set at 9pm. It's going to be sooooo great. While 50 degrees may not seem warm to my friends in FL or GA or the rest of those sunny-year-round states, it was enough to make my day yesterday. I spent about 2 hours out on my motorcycle driving down country roads and feeling the refreshing wind invigorate my soul. It was a good feeling. It was the first time in a long time that I didn't need the heat on in the car. I didn't wear a coat either.

Sometimes I wonder "why the heck do we live here?" There are so many other places we could live where we could enjoy the outdoors and the weather all year round. In the Midwest we are blessed with the change of seasons. My favorite has always been summer. I love swimming and I love the long summer days where the sun stays out longer. I welcome the fall as we get to pull out warm comfy sweaters that have been sitting on shelves for months without wearing them and then spending weekends having bonfires, making hot chocolate, and going on hayrides. When winter shows up, the bitter cold is hard to get use to at first. But the first snow is always so pretty and who can think of Chirstmas without snow? But by the time Christmas is over I am ready for a heat wave. I think next year I will plan a trip in January! This year winter seemed long - very long. And I could not be happier to welcome in Spring. It just means that summer is getting closer. Who knows - maybe someday we will pick up and move to Corpus Christi or Jacksonville. But in the meantime, I will be REALLY grateful for the summer days we do have here in Illinois.

Sigh (of relief)

Earlier this week I received the confirmation I have been looking for. Starting my own business really IS a good idea. After 45 days (not counting weekends here) of hard work, I am starting to see it pay off. Not that I ever thought it was a bad idea to go into business for myself, but you know, there is the worry that you won't make as much money, or you could fail and have to call it quits, and then what will you do? Luckily I am not in that boat. I've had several little successes that are leading to bigger successes. While I haven't seen a paycheck since November (when my old company decided to just stop paying me - giving me a lengthy 1 days notice) I am finally starting to feel like it's all going to be all right. By the time summer hits, I should be in really good shape. Commission jobs can be tough, but they are also very rewarding. You truly reap what you sow - so I am just going to keep on sowing! This first major success has been an enormous boost to morale though which is why I have a great big sigh of relief right now.