Thought I Was Ahead

I thought, for a change, I was ahead of things...wrong. My license plate sticker expires today and I mailed the check in earlier in the month and got an envelope back and just put it aside. Well, I went to put the sticker on my car and instead of a sticker it was a note with my payment stating I needed to get my car emission tested before they could process my sticker. I guess I know where my morning will begin tomorrow.
My computer, the one that lost all its powers last week, had the black screen of death today. Luckily, I plugged our external drive in and backed it up but it appears the hard drive has some issue. A warning keeps appearing telling me that at any moment my drive could be dropped.
Rob went up to Michigan with Dean to have a final work weekend before closing up until next year. The kids and I hung out. We did some thrifting and sales yesterday and the fun fair at school. We met Jo, T and Te for lunch at CiCi's. They came over after and helped us decorate for Halloween.
Today we picked Tony up and went to see Hotel Transylvania at the theater. It was a cute movie. We did some grocery shopping after. Rob was home when we got back. The kids played for a bit before we went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. It was taco night...very tasty. The kids played for a bit and we came home.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Happy Birthday, Rob!

It is Rob's birthday today and it coincides with a day off of school. We went to Lincoln Park Zoo this morning. It was a bit cool but it was great to leisurely stroll through the zoo. We had lunch together on the way home and then Rob played outside with the kids for a bit. Mom and Dad came over for dinner. We cleaned the freezer out for dinner - chick'n nuggets, broccoli, mashed potatoes, sauteed veggies and mom brought a salad. I made a cake for dessert. We watched the first part of The Middle before Mom and Dad went home.
I spent Tuesday thrifting to rebuild my inventory. I went up north and had fairly decent pickings between the 3 stores I went to . My costumes went for more than I could ever have thought - considering I had them all out at our garage sale for $2.00 each. I thrifted a bit on Monday, too. I am getting to know when to stop into stores to take advantage of their discounts.
Ellie started ballet club on Monday. I have hope it will lighten her step. Nick is having fun at school, too. Not too much else new. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Happy 30th Birthday, Jo

Jo turned 30 on Friday. Rob's birthday is this coming Wednesday. Nick had his first sick day on Thursday. He pretty much crashed on the couch. Ellie came home from school on Thursday and her eyes were watery and her head was hot. We got some vitamin c into her and we were able to keep her from really getting sick. Both kids went to school on Friday.
Ellie got 100% on her science test - woo hoo. I was able to run to some rummage sales on Friday and get a couple bags of clothes to flip. Friday night I dropped Ellie off at Niles North for homecoming. She helped with the concessions with her friend Kylie. Nick and I went to the new Mariano's in the city. We picked up dinner and got a couple of their huge caramel apples. We came home and ate and watched a movie.
Saturday morning the kids and I ran to the bank for a special bank buckets game and an ice cream treat. We returned books to the library and then Jo, Te and Tony came to pick us up. We hit some garage sales and thrift stores and had lunch. We ran into Target for basics - the kids found their lunchboxes for next year at 75% off.
Both kids came home and crashed - their illness comes in waves. We had dinner and watched a movie and then got them to bed early. This morning Rob went to church and the kids and i stayed home and cleaned up. Ellie made cupcakes to celebrate Jo and Rob's birthdays. I made some banana toffee bread. We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Mom made Jo and Rob's favorites - macaroni and cheese, ribs, squash, salad, fruit. It was a nice meal. We had dessert and got going home.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Fall is Here

I caved and had to close some of our windows...didn't want to have to throw the heat on. On Monday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry and spent the whole day there. It wasn't crowded and we were able to leisurely go from exhibit to exhibit. Rob and I were saying it has been almost 20 years since we were last there. We stopped at Trader Joes on the way home to pick up some groceries. The kids played outside and we all crashed early.
I have been busy on ebay. It is free listing this week so I am taking advantage and trying to get all my items I have on this week. I have all our old Halloween costumes listed right now. Mom and Dad came for dinner tonight. We had vegan cutlets, pasta, salad, broccoli and fruit. Nick hasn't come out with the fact that he isn't feeling good yet but he was rather hot to the touch tonight. We shall see if school is an option tomorrow.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Beautiful Weekend

I am loving this weather. Nice and sunny during the day and cool evenings. We got our storm door installed yesterday. It looks great and it is so nice to be able to have the extra air coming through the house without the flies coming through, too. We went to a bon voyage party for a former co-worker or Rob's last night. It was nice for the kids to be able to play with some new kids and for us to be able to be social. Dean, Lauren and the girls came over for dessert and some playtime last night. It was a jammed packed day.
Thursday and Friday went by without much happening. I shipped a bunch of auctions out and listed my next batch. I went to a couple thrift stores in search of some new items. I can curriculum night for Ellie on Thursday.
Today we started out at church. We went to Goodwill after to find some new things. We went grocery shopping. We came home and the kids played. Rob cleaned out the garage. We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Mom had a little something for everyone...mandarin chicken, turkey breast, meatloaf, pasta, salad, broccoli and cantaloupe. The kids had some time to play outside with Dad and Tony. We came home and had bath time - very stinky, dirty kids. Rob worked with Nick on letters and sounds and I worked with Ellie on definitions for science.
Tomorrow we are thinking of going to the Museum of Science and Industry - free day! We were going to do a double decker bus tour but the kids both mentioned they wanted to go the MSI and free day sounds like a good day to go. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Blah, Blah, Blah

It has been a frustrating later part of the day. My computer started acting weird this morning and by this afternoon it was in recovery mode. I don't think it was a virus but I lost all my 2012 pictures. It stinks but it puts into perspective that all of the pictures are in your heart and mind. The saga continues because I also lost all my software and drivers, bookmarks and preferences. I still haven't been able to get our wireless printer to be wireless again.
On Monday, we went to Mom and Dad's after school. We were able to meet up with and visit with our first neighbors when we moved to Evanston. Chris, Brian, Tacha and Lexi were in town and met us for a visit. We haven't seen most of them in over 10 years. It was so cool to watch our children play where we used to together.
On Tuesday, the kids and I took a long walk/bike ride and picked up Subway for dinner. It is nice because they are old enough that they don't get tired doing that walk anymore. They watched the 1st part of SpyKids, too.
Today, we played outside after school and walked/biked over to the park. Elie has been helping me with getting my ebay thing ready for shipping and pulling the right bags and labels...pretty cute. Crazy to think a used shirt is over $20. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Happy Grandparent's Day!

I have to say that with the kids back in school and me ebaying quite a bit...the days seem to run together. We went to Northwestern for the final visit on Thursday. Both kids did great and had fun while helping in research. We came home and had dinner with Rob.

Friday, I got the kids off to school. We had a run in with an owl on the way to the bus. It had just wiped out a squirrel from our neighbors tree. It was quite a National Geographic moment. Big owl, squirrel and a huge branch in its talons.I went to Highland Park to rummage. They had 3 sales and I was able to get about 2 dozen things to flip. Rob went to Michigan for the weekend so it was just the kids and I. We went to Culver's for dinner and came home and watched Stand Up 2 Cancer.

Saturday we hit some garage sales, thrift stores and then went to Lincolnwood for Touch a Truck. The kids got some swag and had fun trying the many trucks out (including the horns). We went to Mom and Dad's and had lunch before we went to American Science Center for the warehouse sale. Nothing great this year. The kids played outside when we got home. We had breakfast for dinner, read a couple chapters in our book and I got the kids to sleep.

Today we had a laid back day. We started the morning getting Nick's haircut for picture day on Tuesday. We hit the farmers market on the way home. The kids did some art projects. Nick decided Yvonne must have missed some hairs and he cut his hair by himself. The kids and I made some muffins for the week, zucchini blueberry and zucchini banana. Rob came home and we went to Mom and Dad's for family Sunday. We had so much to celebrate...Grandparent's Day, Grandma GG's B-day, Jo's B-day & Rob's B-day. Mom made a bit of everything - pork roast, veggie meatballs, broccoli, applesauce, pierogi, sweet potato and kale. We had cannoli, flan, key lime pie and chocolate cake for dessert. The kids got to play outside for a bit on this beautiful day.

Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Happy September

Busy, busy, busy. My time has been consumed by ebay. I had 100 items listed last week so they are all closing this week. I shipped out about 50 today and I am waiting for payment on the others. I am also starting my next batch of listings. Hey, it is the best of both worlds - I get to go shopping and I get to make money.

Friday, Tony and I had another fun morning. We went to a couple garage sales and then to have lunch.

The weekend in Michigan was fun. We went up after school on Friday and Stayed until Monday. Dean, Lauren and the girls joined us on Saturday. We were able to get in some beach time, a couple cones at the Soda Bar and mini golf and go-carts. The kids all played well together and we were able to use a bunch of things up from the fridge. Ellie was able to show Nana her knitting and get some pointers. Nana is now safely back in Florida.

The kids both went to Northwestern last night to continue their studies. Both of them are doing great. I was able to get about half of my book read while I was waiting for them to finish.

Mom and Dad came for dinner tonight. We had bbq shred pizzas, a salad, melon, beets & pierogi. We watched an episode on DC Cupcakes and then got the kiddos into bed.

Not too much else to share. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree