• Chicago, January 11…

    It’s 31 degrees outside with a drizzling cold rain.  Snow showers are expected.  Tiger and I are inside where the old-fashioned radiators keep everything warm.  In fact, I have a window raised slightly.  Tiger is asleep, curled into a ball on top of the leather sofa, one of his favorite places here in our Chicago condo.

    Doug flew to Texas a few days ago to join a group of men from our church in Iowa on a mission trip.  They are building a church in Mexico in the midst of an extremely poor village.  A couple of the wives went along and prepared a hot dog lunch for about 150 of the villagers yesterday and gave out small gifts for the children.  This is Doug’s first mission trip and, in spite of the hard work, he’s enjoying it.  In the short video clips he has sent, you can hear the wind howling.  They are staying in Southern Texas but cross the border into Mexico each day.

     

     

     

    Thankfully, his flight arrives back in Chicago tomorrow night – weather permitting.  I’m praying there are no obstacles to his arriving back to O’Hare safely!  We are supposed to return to our Iowa home on Monday – again weather permitting!  I have my pre-op physical on Wednesday for my ear surgery on the 23rd of January.  I’m ready to get it over with!

    I’ve loved my time with our family here these past few weeks.  All of us celebrated Doug’s 73rd birthday before he left for Mexico.  It was soup night.  We made big pots of homemade vegetable beef soup,  homemade chicken noodle soup and a bowl of fresh fruit salad.  Of course, you must have hot cornbread to accompany homemade soup.  I am Southern after all.  My only concession to this Midwest way of life is a little bit of sugar in the cornbread.  When we go home to the South, I get it my way – no sugar!

    Last night I enjoyed pizza and a movie with my youngest and his family,  My six and eight year old granddaughters chose the movie Abominable (about a baby Abominable snowman trying to get home to Mt. Everest and his parents!) and it’s adorable.  Amazing how far animation has come!

    I had plans to get so much done while Doug was gone but, to tell the truth, I’ve been a bit lazy!  I’ve enjoyed reading, watching a few British mysteries and I’ve kept up with the basic necessities here.  I did get to walk down to the school to get the girls a couple of days and that’s always fun.  I should have also walked down to get a haircut from my favorite Chicago hairdresser yesterday!  Instead, I did the unspeakable and took the scissors to my hair – never a good thing!  I’ll go get it straightened out when we get back to Iowa.  😉

  • Birthday blessings…

    Today is my birthday.  I was born in a small town in the Delta of Mississippi, the youngest of four daughters.  When you get to be THIS old, you become a little nostalgic about your life:  your family…what you’ve accomplished – or didn’t accomplish – and whether or not you should just toss the proverbial bucket list.  I’m blessed.  I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.  I have a wonderful husband, amazing children and grandchildren.  I have precious family and friends scattered throughout the states.

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    aptWe are happily settled in our apartment in the Chicago neighborhood of Ravenswood.  My youngest son and his family is a short 3 block walk away from our apartment.  Tonight, we will be there for my birthday dinner.  Quaint shops – and a Starbucks – are just a short walk away.  Thanksgiving dinner was here in our small apartment- all eight of us.  Doug and I cooked the ham, turkey and cranberry salad and everyone else brought the sides.  My three and five year old granddaughters decided they would rather be at the “grown-up’s table”.  We moved them there and everything was perfect.

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    Doug’s ninety-seven year old mom went home to be with the Lord on October 10th.  It was a beautiful service in the Lutheran church where Doug grew up.  She would have loved the amazing blanket of Autumn flowers – accented with yellow roses – that covered the casket.  We miss her.

    sch_noitems_leafI’m in the process of taking photos of our small apartment and will be sharing them soon.  In the meantime, we are enjoying our time with our family here before we head back to Iowa for a few weeks.

  • Joyful whirlwind…

    While my goal is to post faithfully to Sweet Journey Home, life has certainly been a joyful whirlwind these past few months with very little time on the computer.

    Late May, my firstborn grandchild graduated from high school.  As we watched him march into the large auditorium with his class, I realized – once again – that time marches on as well.  Early summer, we traveled to Chicago where we had a wonderful time with our sons and their families.  In July, we enjoyed having my precious granddaughter Sarah here for ten days and then the three of us traveled to Wyoming where we met my oldest son and his family in the Grand Tetons.  (Except for my sixteen-year-old granddaughter Noelle who spent the summer in Peru working in an orphanage and the medical clinic that my son started there!)  We all spent some fun time in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Doug enjoying mountain biking with my son and his family.  Unfortunately, he hasn’t had quite as much experience as they have coming down the mountains.  Halfway down the trails in the mountain bike park, Doug fell and broke three ribs!  Needless to say, that put a damper on our trip and ended his mountain biking career!  Early September, we returned to Chicago to celebrate birthdays for my now three and five year old granddaughters.

    Our nimg_6549-1ewest adventure???  We have leased an apartment in the neat little neighborhood of Ravenswood in Chicago!!!  We will spend at least half-time there and half-time in Iowa until we’re just too old to travel and that should be a long time since the Mega Bus is always an option!  We will actually be able to WALK a few short blocks to see these two precious granddaughters in the photos!  With two sons and their families in Chicago, we think this is an awesome idea and we are so excited about it!  Our new apartment is on a tree-lined street and in what is rated as “a walker’s paradise” – which simply means we will be a short walking distance to the train, Starbucks, many quaint little stores and restaurants.   The apartment is in a vintage, gated U-shaped set of buildings that were built in the 1930’s I believe.  We’ve purchased a few antiques for the apartment in keeping with the vintage theme.  The buildings and lawn are well kept with trees and flowers.  It’s just down the street from the mayor’s house so, hopefully, that’s a good thing.  There is so much to see and do in Chicago – including a host of museums we’ve yet to visit.   Most importantly, there will be more time with our big family in Chicago and we are thrilled about that!

    I will be sharing our Chicago adventures and a lot of pictures on a brand new blog (not yet underway) at:  http://www.homesweethomechicago.net