I'm Not Blogging at Midnight....

Isn't that funny, it's exactly midnight as I start this post. Exactly what I said I wouldn't do. I'm beyond tired!

I'm just gonna say this: Ree is delightful. She has a way that totally puts you at ease. I enjoyed her immensely.

Doesn't mean that my hands weren't clammy and that I wasn't about to vomit on her when it was my turn. I managed not to. Standing in line I began burping the Chicken Caesar Salad I had for lunch. I just kept imagining those little anchovy heads. *Gak*

I think she really took a shine to Aaron. Just look at that little face. He was so excited.

More to come later tomorrow......

But for now I leave you with...

Rocketdogs and Ree.

Yes, I have no socks on. I don't want to talk about it!

Rocket Dogs in Arkansas

Went to Arkansas in search of BBQ today. I absolutely love the Ozark Mountains. They are so very different from the cornfields at home.

The pictures don't do it justice. It was just so pretty, and hilly, and colorful. It was very hilly, crooked and steep. My stomach was a bit queasy from it all. Reminded me of the Great Tilt-a-Whirl incident of 1976.

This was the first good cup of coffee I had in Missouri. It's a long boring story. I have serious coffee issues. I'll go into it one day.


Adorable sign.

We drove to Eureka Springs, which is an incredible little town tucked in the hills. The pic above is of my new Life is Good Hat, and Jim's new Life is Good shirt.

The town is filled with these little springs. The gardens were beautiful.

Cute little houses like this filled the streets. (Jen, I thought of you and your village :-)

This gate makes my stomach hurt I love it so much. Jim wouldn't steal it. And he calls himself a friend.

A wonderful fall planter idea!

By the way, did you notice it stopped raining?

When I saw this sign, I said to m'self, I said....'ok'.

Jim is an impatient man. He doesn't like to be kept waiting. Especially for pork.

Fruit of the Swine.


Life IS Good, baby.

No comment needed.
We saw Beaver Dam on the way home.

Jim still can't figure out how beavers built this dam.

Take Me to the River

I was going to name this blog 'Freak Accident in Kankakee River ....Woman Loses Rearend' Tell you more about that later!

Today was an interesting day. I knew there was going to be an article in the paper about me, and I was excited, and nervous. Let me preface this by saying that Phil Potempa is a sweetheart. Such a nice guy to talk to. I thought he did a great job on the article, and it appears that I have a few new readers here to boot! Welcome!

I let the paper lay in the driveway until after 9am. I'm not sure why! I felt nervous. I finally looked at it, and I think they did a nice job. I'm not sure why my one arm looks so much larger than my other arm. Maybe the lens they used.

Other than that, it was a quiet day. I knew my sis was going to stop by around 1pm, so I felt a little stuck in doing anything. I didn't really want to get started doing something, only to have to stop it, so I putzed. Gosh I'm good at putzing.

Made this delicious Lemon Cream Pie today. If your gonna putz, do it right, and make a pie!

After sis and crew left around 4, I just felt so restless. I didn't really want to work around the house, I didn't want to sit down and plan Aaron's lessons.....argh...I just wanted out.

Glenco and I took a little ride down to the Kankakee River in the old little boat that he's been working out. It's a cute little runabout from 1956.

Here's me on the boat, playing around with the camera. The first thing I think when I see pic, is like, girl, you need some conditioner!

We rode on down to a little restaurant in Hebron called Marti's Place. I got a steak, Glenco got a Philly Sandwich. It's a pretty restaurant. They have a LOT of flowers. Here's a peek at the patio where we ate.

Here's our little boat docked at the restaurant. Looks so cute doesn't it? I pretended that we lived on an East Coast island, and that we had to take the boat everywhere. I imagined coming home with little paper sacks of groceries for our little island cottage. Life would be so charming there.

On the way home, it was about dark, and it was.....COLD. COLD. I shivered in the fetal position in the hull of the boat while Glenco captained us home. So dark it was hard to get the boat on the trailer. I froze my hiney OFF. It's gone. Poof. It's going to be quite uncomfortable sitting here blogging without a butt.

Crazy Chicken Lady Goes to Chicago

One of the things to do on our 'Before Summer Ends' list was to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. So I packed up Aaron and my pincurls and headed out. I didn't take too many pics today girls, just cause. Cause they didn't want any photography in the exhibits, and it was raining all day in Chicago, and I just plum 'twernt in the mood. K?

Our trip to the big city was as smooth as a hot knife cutting butter. I didn't tear any gas pumps apart or anything.

The museum was quite inspiring. Here's a pic of Aaron at the main exhibit. Aaron loves anything and everything that is modern, contemporary or stark. I love watching his eyes as he sees something that moves him. He wants to be an architect. I will do anything and take him anywhere to fuel his passion.

I even felt artsy as I went to the bathroom. Snapped this pic. My gallery showing is next week. Ha!

Recognize those Rocketdog shoes? I'm thinking they'll be in every shot now.

I did not take the following pictures. Photography wasn't allowed in the exhibits.

This is a tunnel of mirrors and light. It was like the portal to heaven. We spent a lot of time in there. I was awed by how long it must have taken this artist to create this.

I'm ashamed to tell you that my first thought when I saw this was "What the heck is wrong with you Jayme....you can't even paint your house trim and this guy is building stainless steel abstract art".

This room was hard to describe. It was completely black, with a light hanging down, and a small mist of water. I kept waiting for Count Dracula to come out and scare us. It was ethereal. Beautiful. Inspiring. Really was delightful.

The rest of the museum was 'ahem' interesting. Not really my style of art, but I did feel inspired, challenged, confused, confounded and like I was on Candid Camera at times. I mean, come ON....seriously? Art? THAT? Why a 2 year old could paint that......

Had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Visited Crate and Barrel. Oh how I hankered for so many things in that store. Actually purchased a few little things. Went to the Apple Store and a few little funky boutiques. Got a Green Tea Smoothie and threw it in the trash. Gak.

As we were leaving Chicago, I stopped at my old neighborhood. I sat in the alley behind my old house for a long time, looking, remembering. Those were the sidewalks I'd learned to walk on. My diapers hung on a clothesline there. So many thoughts went through my head. My mom worked so hard making that yard a little showplace. There was no evidence of her hard work now.

Stopped at the Physical Therapist on the way home for my torture session. Illiotic Band Syndrome. I call it the Idiotic Band Syndrome. It's the muscle that runs down the side of your leg. They use a rolling pin on me....a rolling pin! It's beyond excruciating. I cry. I sweat. I plead for them to stop.

Came home to all of your fun comments.

Thanks so much!

Night night.

Summer's Last Hurrah

You know how I can tell summer is almost over? I buy new shoes. It's instinctual. It's getting ready for a new year. I like to buy clothes and sharpen pencils too. I love the smell of freshly sharpened pencils. It's full of hope and the promise of learning and discovery. I heart these shoes. They make my stomach hurt I love them so much. Rocketdogs. Such a cool name for shoes.

30 actual days of the summer solstice left, 16 days of 'traditional' summer left before Labor Day. How does this make you feel? I feel bittersweet about it. The thoughts of crisp apples, warm sweaters and pumpkins makes me positively swoon. It's almost too much to bear really, it's so glorious. On the other hand, I feel a bit of woe and regret. I just feel that there was so much of summer that I didn't embrace.

It was an unseasonably cool summer here in NW Indiana, and I'm not one to complain. Loved the weather.

The past few mornings have been so fall like. I used to be able to be out in the yard working at 5. Now it's 6. It's dark at 8pm now. The days are definitely getting shorter.

It's hard to see the garden declining, and at the same time a sense of relief! Fall is all about nesting and squirrelling away things, preparing for the cold, stark winter. Preparing for rest. Preparing for stews and books and quilts and more time. Old movies and blogging, Christmas and hopes and plans for a new year..................

Ok...back to NOW. I'm feeling the need to cram some more summery activities into whats left of the summer. I want to ride my bike more. I need to go to the beach just a few more times. I need to drink lots more iced tea, and eat more melons and corn. I need to float somewhere on an inner tube. I need to go fishing fortheloveofGod.

Can you name three summer things that you'd like to do before this summer ends?