A day at the promenade

We had a great time at Ikea (in spite of Meesh's lack of "finds"). The smell of cinnamon rolls attacked as we walked in the door, but for some reason, we left without any.

Sad...found out that the kids' center only takes 10 children at a time. That means our girls morning as planned won't work since combined there are 12 kids needing child care. Sigh. Mental note: tell Lynda, Sherrie and Laura...

We DID find a great loft for Meesh's dorm room (roughly the size of most bathrooms!!), desk organizers in dark brown to match her bedding, and super cheap frames. As for my finds, I got chair cushions that match my kitchen and some coffee mugs I'm making into gifts for some ladies who shall remain nameless.

Off the the Promenade across the street for lunch at Go Roma, my fave place to eat there, and make overs at Macy's. This is the before. We showed Lindsay how to play up her fabulous brown eyes with non-blue eye shadow. I don't know that the Clinique lady was that great, but we did get what we came for and had some good laughs.

Then, of course, we had to shop...esp. when we saw a fabulous patchwork skirt at the Loft. Sadly, it was out of our price range. But the great white denim skirt (note to self: TAN before wearing it!!) and brown fabuloso dress pants more than made up for that loss.

Last stop...the hippos...to make ourselves look skinnier, one person who shall also remain nameless, suggested. Sigh. I thought she loved me. Not so much I guess!!

I can't believe it's been almost a week!!

AGAIN!!
Let's see...we've been making things (luggage tags come to mind), going places (Portillo's, Kimberlee's, the Promenade and Ikea), playing (cards, competitive Sudoku) and laughing alot.

Joseph's birthday was mixed in here...we did a CARS theme, which I don't think he appreciated the irony of a kid's movie celebrating him being able to drive. And then there was the "Does Cassie really know how much I love her?" meltdown Sunday night. That pretty much brings things up to date.

Joseph, 16. Wow. Where does the time go... In one short year he'll be off to college (early). Where did my little fat faced imp of a boy go? The "I can't keep my clothes or shoes on" kid has grown into a clothes horse (but still rarely shoes!!) And now, after a year of pining away for a girl in his youth group and being told he's too nice of a guy to like, he seems to have turned into a girl magnet overnight. There's 4 or 5 girls who like him...but he's still liking the same girl..

Looks like I need to upload some pictures too...

Today is supposed to be wedding dress shopping for Cassie, but I have emailed her 3 times regarding it and hear nothing back. Frustrating, but I have plan B if she flakes us for whatever reason. Then tonight, it's SPOONS with Theresa. I'm anticipating pain, but I've got my own weapons as I realized this morning...my nails are all pretty long!! I'm sure I'll lose (I stink at cards, but it's fun anyway!), but no doubt there will be some laughs involved.

A week from today, we leave for FL. 12 days including travel days...can't wait!! Melissa will graduate from college, we'll get to see her new condo and hang. She and Meesh think they'll get me tan...bwahahaha!! I'm a melatonin repellent. I'll merely crisp myself and then fade to white as always.

Joseph said...

Mom, it's almost impossible to fail on beginner". Thus began the negotiation for me to play guitar hero. His friend Jordan brought it over and Joseph played pretty well...then Meesh got on...again. Pretty well (in fact, 91%) She was a rock star.

They hand if off to the (1) novice Xbox player with (2) no rhythm and (3) poor eye hand co-ordination. Well, at least I THOUGHT I looked good...till the pix came back. Sigh. SO here it is...

me playing guitar hero on the easiest setting,with the easiest song. I failed. FLUNKED Guitar Hero...and it did it at the 25% through the song point. Sigh.

Guess it's a good thing I have other hobbies!! LOL

And you know those pictures you see of yourself that you just hate??? Usually, that's not me. but i seriously hate this picture and how I look in it. And I thought I looked pretty good yesterday...sigh

I think I've met

the game playing quota for this trip. We have played golf (the card game, not the actual), dominoes, phase 10, gimme 5, golf, golf, dominoes. I don't think I missed any. It's been fun, but I'm over it with two weeks to go!! LOL ANd I always lose. ANd I don't pay enough attention to know that after 5 rounds of Gimme 5, I have to ask "do we flip the card?". Which of course, sent Meesh into peels of laughter. Then JOseph and I finally win and start bickering over who was the bigger contributor to the win (the correct answer is me of course!!) and I say to him "Joseph, this is how teams fall apart." which was quote #2 for the trip....and laugh attack number 2 that sent me into a near asthma attack and tears and tummy pain from laughing so hard. Not to mention that Meesh informs me I have an eye that doesn't actually LOOK at you, but near you. Is that TRUE???? All because I dared to (1) look at her and (2) ponder how dark her hair looked while still gazing upon her beauty. Mental note: do NOT look at Meesh any more. Consider her off limits.
Today we are working on her graduation scrapbook. For some odd reason, she feels the need to get dressed nice to scrapbook...but when I take her shopping she goes scrubby, but when we're staying home she gets dressed up. whatEVER!!
AND>>>>she thinks I say "seriously" too much. What does she know???? Sigh. Kids these days.

On the other hand...a couple of things have been batting about my mind these days. One, P Rick said something in his class Sunday that literally brought me to tears. He does that sometimes. And it lingers. Anyway. Here it is: "for the joy set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame." A passage from Hebrews. Being a bible study class, not too surprising. But that joy set before him was us. "Les Bishop, Geriann" I don't know why it struck me so deeply at that time. It's not like I haven't heard that before...but the fact the Christ would endure the pain of crucifixion, the shame of hanging naked on a cross in public and being branded a criminal and blasphemer, that He was doing it for the HOPE of me turning to Him in my life. OMG. That is just overwhelming... He endured the cross by seeing our faces down through time...
The other thing is: I"m just plain heartbroken at what IS happening in our church. And I am having a hard time working through my feelings of anger, betrayal and disappointment. I know I need to, that my heart is not in a good place, and it's hard. Getting harder to find a reason to step through those doors, to separate my emotions from the scripture being preached. God's word doesn't return void. So I SHOULD be able to separate them...but it's harder each time some crappy thing happens and doesn't get talked about and needs to be sifted through to find the closest thing to the truth that is available. We need prayer. We need healing.
Given the tears that came to my eyes regarding Jesus' shame and crucifixion, I think I can get beyond this. So I can be a woman who follows Christ and SHOWS it. To bring glory to God in my obedience with a GOOD heart, not a bitter heart. To allow the Holy Spirit to work on my heart through this time and what it brings out in me. I want to leave...to find somewhere more comfortable. But I just don't feel like that's what God is saying to me at this time. It would be so much easier...isn't running always easier? But not better...not if I trust that God will bring good through this for those who love Him (that would be me in this case!!)
Joseph has 3 days left of 15. Where has the time gone? My baby is shaving and soon will be driving. I keep joking that in one year, my job skills will be obsolete, but there is some truth to that. I'm proud of him. He's a great guy. Kindhearted and tender, strong in his convictions and honest. Fun to be with and loyal. The spitting image of his dad with dark hair...

We tasted...

goat today for the first time. It was like my mom's potroast one Chrsitmas. Tough. But the spices were yummy. And we had collard green eggroll...also yummy. And Crab nuggets. And rainbow cone ice cream.
But before that, for some unknown reason, we took pictures in the parking garage. Tried to get a picture of the four of us, but that just wasn't happening. Still, I love these pictures...even if they are "incomplete"!!

We had planned to go to the taste on the 4th, but my back ruined that plan. We played cards instead, which was great. Very relaxing, but not rainbow cone worthy!! Then we were going to go tomorrow after church, till we read the forecast. Yeah. Chicago, outside, with drunken sweaty people in 105 heat index. Nah. I'll take a pass. So we ran up there tonight. We found out that it takes about 2 hours to go through the taste, Wiesbrook style. That includes getting lost both going out of and re-entering the parking garage. That's Paul asking the security guard how to get out of the garage.

And it includes taking pictures of my beloved skyline, allowing a bird to crap on my arm (NO I AM NOT KIDDING!!) as I was taking my first bite of ice cream. Both Joseph and I initially thought it was ice cream spray...but no. there was telltale bird doo-doo evidence. I kept wondering what Melissa (Cav) was like at the taste, being a certified germophobe. And the bird poo just made it that much funnier to imagine!!

Lowlights of the taste...the drunk, barefoot guy weaving in and out of traffic in front of us; the women who thought their cleavage was the perfect parking spot for water bottles, cell phones, etc. The What not to wear moments were running rampant, I'm telling you!! Imagine grey camo shorts and a blue and red striped dress shirt. White shorts with no lining and no underwear...need I go on? I think not.

Tomorrow...no plans, except the 7 phone calls I need to make and maybe scrapping. It's been a
fun couple of days and I hope I sleep in!!

Friday...

the sun is shining, I"m wearing one of my fave cami tops, my back is only twinge-y now, and the tea is brewing. Just doesn't get better than that for the moment...
Went shopping at the Promenade in Bolingbrook yesterday. The question to how many visits before it's just an outdoor mall is 3. I'm over it. But it does have good food!! We tried a salad place that serves YOUR salad in a family sized salad bowl. They have like 50 different toppings, from dried cranberries, to artichoke hearts to the usual salad fare. It was really, really good. But, eating outside...yeah. Every SINGLE person who walked by commented on our bowls. Like we were total pigs...and then they'd walk in and order the same thing.
It was yummmmmmy
Today is scrapbooking day. I asked Joseph what he wanted to do today and he said hang out with his friends. Now mind you, his cousin is in, he's spent the 3rd and 5th with friends, and is spending Sunday with them. I"m feeling the loooooooooooooove.
I'm off to Great Harvest...hope they have my bread in stock!! Well, made. They don't stock bread. They make it fresh.

Girls Night In/Throw back out

It was Saturday, a good day for me, since I was having the monthly gathering of my pals... I knew alot of people weren't going to make it this month for a variety of reasons, but I was still looking forward to it.

Salad night and flavored teas. Who knew that tea was such a dangerous concoction??? We were sitting around chatting: where would we go if money and time were no object, which segued into how we met our husbands, doing the wrong thing and trying to make it right by doing it the "right" way, motorized scooter mishaps, snoring, etc. You get the idea...we were on our typical roll. We were laughing as always, just enjoying some time to be women, not someone's mom, daughter, wife. Just our silly selves... taking self portraits such as this one!!

then I leaned down to pick up my iced tea...and couldn't get up. I"m not talking a little twinge. I'm talking about eye watering, can barely breathe, CANNOT move pain. This is where I"m supposed to tell you some face saving story like "I pushed a child out of the way of a moving car" or "I saw toxic ooze and used my body to shield it, contorting it in some unrecognizable position, thus harming myself but saving humanity". Once everyone was done laughing and sharing THEIR back-wrenching stories, we settled into praying for my back to be healed, icing it (thank GOD Paul got the bag of ice he usually resists) and continuing the talk...of mentoring, Judson's 4th of July bash and respective church services.

By Sunday morning it was better (thanks Cindi...ice on my butt all night did help!! But I have a tummy ache from the constant inflow of anti-inflammatories), but I still couldn't move around. So bed visits it was...Joseph, Paul and Cassie after church, then hobbling off to eat breakfast.

Cassie rededicated her life to Christ at church this week. I'm so excited for her and hope she can make the changes in her life that reflects that commitment. I know it will be hard; there are some pretty big adjustments she'll need to make to be aligned with her Christian values...but God has shown up once again in her life...strong and clear and unwavering....not like He is ever anything but...

So now it's post July 4th and my niece is in (Paul had to go get her since I still could barely sit up and definitely wouldn't have made THAT trip!!), we skipped the Taste so far, but went to a mini class reunion where we hooked up with some old friends and laughed our butts off (that was before the whole back thing), and have played multiple card games but have so far dodged the deadly spoons game.

I really don't know what this picture is about but it was so freakin' funny, I had to share. Lindsay wanted to take some pictures for Patrick to put up on his ship, so this is what he's getting!! LOL