happy new year’s eve day!

Dec 31, 2016 | Uncategorized

things have changed dramatically around here. the puppy had been here a week, and the cats were traumatized and i knew that coco would continue to be puppy-like for two years.  les spent much of his time hiding in the bedroom. and one night i sat in there with him,...

a new header, trying to pretend

Dec 18, 2016 | Uncategorized

that it’s not 2 degrees outside and feels like -7. i’ve avoided going out into the icy icyness for most of the weekend, except last night with taking the puppy outside who didn’t want to come back in debacle, plus taking her out a couple more times...

life AC

Dec 18, 2016 | Coco

BC – life Before Coco.  it was relatively quiet and calm.  occasional kitty fights to break up, but nothing that couldn’t be managed. and now, life AC – After Coco.  a whole different story. here she is after arriving on tuesday morning.  i’d...

p.s. coco

Dec 12, 2016 | Coco

here are some photos that jill sent me.  coco comes from texas, still not sure how that happened. she was the smallest of the litter.  her mom was turned in by a homeless family. what’s not to love? here she is with her siblings.  the spotted one there is...

and it’s…a puppy

Dec 12, 2016 | Coco

yes, you heard right.  tomorrow morning we’re getting a puppy. where have i been for almost a month now, you ask?  busy.  then sick.  still kinda sick, but got some good drugs today that will hopefully magically work overnight and i’ll be right as rain in...

progress!

Nov 19, 2016 | Uncategorized

created a new banner.  finally. ta da! yesterday baked kevin some low-sugar oatmeal cookies.  haven’t done it in one million years. brought in a couple of flowers from outside yesterday, now i wish i’d brought in more because it’s mighty cold and...

fraught

Nov 11, 2016 | Uncategorized

i guess at this point this is the best descriptor of my week. kevin’s dad’s visitation/catholic funeral mass/etc. election. i guess these are the two major things. fraught with crazy. and then, today, hearing about leonard cohen dying.  why didn’t i...

the end of our little trip to mackinac, where i want to

Nov 8, 2016 | travel

go back again and stay for a month.  I realize this probably won’t happen, but you never know… meanwhile, i’m happy to have spent a few lovely days there. here’s the view from our porch at the windermere hotel on our final morning, friday,...

kevin’s dad

Nov 6, 2016 | Uncategorized

passed away on thursday night.  kevin wrote a moving little piece about it here. sad times. sad times in the middle of frantic and crazy times – mom has been in the process of moving, from a house about 10 minutes away, to one that’s just two doors down,...

my thursday door!

Nov 3, 2016 | travel

i’m a little bit horrified that it suddenly dawned on me that it’s now november, and i’m still struggling to finish my postings of mackinac island, where we went in september.  things are chaotic around here, though, and i’m lucky to be sitting...

the rest of our thursday on mackinac

Oct 27, 2016 | travel

after the delicious lunch buffet at the grand hotel, we spent some time walking all around the place.  they charge $10 a person just to enter the lobby, but it was well worth it.  we walked up to the top of the hotel to the cupola bar, which has splendid views. i love...

more fun on mackinac island

Oct 26, 2016 | travel

here’s part of our second and last full day on mackinac, thursday, sept. 22nd.  the morning started out wet and chilly, and it was fun to sit on the big front porch and look out. we’d planned to go to the Grand Hotel for the lunch buffet, so we eventually...

the end of our first full and busy day on mackinac island

Oct 19, 2016 | travel

hiking, biking, and then… more hiking around.  after the long walk and shorter bike ride, we sat in the park at the other end of main street from our hotel and watched the horses and bikes and people.  it was nice to just sit there, but for some reason, and i...

more mackinac!

Oct 16, 2016 | travel

here’s a quick posting of the bike riding we did during in the afternoon of wednesday, september 21st, after spending the morning doing quite a bit of walking. you can rent bikes by the hour, and we started out at around 2:30.  it was fun to be on a bike on such...

hiking, biking, walk walk walking on Mackinac…

Oct 15, 2016 | travel

what a day it was!  this was wednesday, sept. 21st, our first full day on mackinac, and it was definitely, definitely supposed to rain. since i’d left my new raincoat in the car, i wasn’t too pleased with the prospect of rain. but it’s just like here...

Mackinac Island!

Oct 11, 2016 | travel

(it’s pronounced mackinaw, fyi, in case you’re going to be chatting about it with anybody). i love mackinac island! in my last post about our trip up north, i said that we left at 6:30 in the morning on Tuesday, Sept. 20th, to drive from Starved Rock to...

another thursday door!

Oct 8, 2016 | Uncategorized

although of course it’s already saturday!  i took this picture and wanted to post it on thursday, as part of Thursday Doors, but as usual, i had no free time to sit down this week.  but luckily i read the fine print of norm’s requirements for posting and i...

my first thursday door!

Sep 29, 2016 | travel

my husband kevin has been posting pictures of doors on his blog, “Old Guy Walking” and then he links the posts through this website called, you guessed it, Thursday Doors.  I’m wrong, that’s not the name of the site, but it’s a link that...

a little trip…

Sep 29, 2016 | travel

last sunday, september 18th, kevin and i drove to starved rock, where we’d been in the spring, and then we spent three nights on mackinac island. for one thing, i want to stay on mackinac for at least a week next time.  at least.  and take our own bikes. but...

september 26th!

Sep 26, 2016 | Uncategorized

and before you know it, it’ll be october.  it continues to feel like summer, though, so it continues to be challenging to get into the fall mindset. last week kevin and i took a little trip to starved rock state park, and then up to mackinac island in michigan....

Italian Greyhound Extravaganza!

Sep 17, 2016 | Uncategorized

on wednesday, mom and i joined amy and jim on an overnight to Purina Farms, close to six flags in St. Louis.  it was the 2016 Italian Greyhound show, and when amy told me that their four IGs were going to be in a rescue parade, i said I MUST GO TOO! here’s a...

well…

Sep 9, 2016 | Uncategorized

my phone being fine after having an overnight at the bottom of the lake was only a temporary thing, which is really ok since i was able to back it up to my computer and all my very very important notes that i’d stored are now safely on amy’s old phone for...

the miracle of LIFEPROOF

Sep 6, 2016 | Uncategorized

i want to call LIFEPROOF, the maker of my incredible waterproof phone case and offer to be their spokesperson!  this morning my phone worked, but it didn’t want to acknowledge any of my power cords.  but then, they all worked. also, the little number...

the awesomeness of SUSART!!

Sep 5, 2016 | Uncategorized

the guys pulled up in their cars less than an hour after kevin called!  one of the very nice guys said that he’d been out in his boat at the lake club last night, and would have been happy to come if we’d called then. next time…but hopefully there...

sunken iphone update…

Sep 5, 2016 | Uncategorized

after tossing and turning for most of the early morning, with many bad dreams, the only one of which i can recall is that mom and i were sitting in the boat down at the dock, except it wasn’t the boat, it was my old grey minivan, and we were starting to sink and...

PLOP

Sep 5, 2016 | Uncategorized

that is the sound of my phone, hitting the water. and there it went, gently bobbing out of sight, down into the murky depths of lake springfield. oh boy. it’s been an iffy, not so great, a little bit terrible, nerve-wracking kind of week, for a whole bunch of...

as the summer whooshes by…

Aug 19, 2016 | Uncategorized

i can’t believe we’re already on the backside of august.  whooosh… even though i spent the first part of july lying around because of bronchitis, i did manage to mosey down to the water, where les continued to enjoy the sailboat. this is on july 5th,...

the chipmunk incident

Aug 4, 2016 | Uncategorized

first, and most importantly… HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!!! it’s going to be an exciting and fun-filled day!  actually, it’s already been fun-filled for him, because early this morning he went down to the dock with lester and watched the fish jumping in the...