Catching up

 Our drive times, both going up and coming back, were just fine, and blissfully un-eventful.

It was interesting to see where the gas prices were most outrageous! We are SO glad that we bought a hybrid vehicle last year!

When we got to my sister and brother in law's house on Thursday the 14th, their son Dan, and their grand daughter/my great niece were there to greet us.

Happily. the little one is no longer afraid of us, and gave us welcoming hugs, and the gift of a quarter each!  SO cute.

She has grown up SO MUCH since we were there in September. She has all of her words, now, and speaks in comprehensible sentences, and remembers EVERYTHING!  She's a spark plug! 

The next day, Dave and Jim went to a barber, and got hot towel/straight razor shaves, while Elsa and I walked over to Walgreens for a couple of items I needed.  

After the guys got back, I lamented that there isn't anywhere that shaves women's legs in such a luxurious way! HAHA!

We got all dressed up, their daughter Colleen and her partner Jo arrived, and we took a Lyft ride share to the Rookery Building in downtown Chicago for my other nephew, John's, wedding.  It was rush hour traffic, so it took nearly 2 hours to get there, but we made it in the nick of time!

The venue was spectacular, as expected, and I took a lot of pictures.  
The wedding was lovely, as all fancy, formal weddings are, and the food was spectacular.

The photographer did not take any posed family pictures, though, so I hope she managed to capture us old folks when we weren't chewing food, or whatever! 

We had to wrangle the groom to get a couple of pictures with him, and didn't manage to get any with him and his bride, Erin.  John did manage to seek me out a couple of times in the busy-ness of the evening, and showed me that he was wearing my great grandfather's pocket watch.  Very cool. 

Our Lyft drive back to Naperville was a bit scary, as the driver was clearly tired, and kept drifting into the next lane.  We made it back without incident, but it was nerve wracking!

My brother, Cole, was too ill to attend his son's wedding, which was very sad, but we went and visited him at the family home on Saturday afternoon.

He has become very thin and frail since we were there in September.  After his heart attack and bypass surgery two years ago, he never quit smoking, or completed cardiac rehab, and has not been feeding himself well, or respecting his diabetes.

The house was an utter catastrophe of a mess, but my nephew goes as often as he can to do whatever he can to help out.

It was nice to see the yard in full spring splendor, though.  My dad's blue spruce still stands, at 105 years old.

The story is, though that the city wants to put in a sidewalk along the front of the property, which could mean that the tree will be cut down.  My brother is fighting that as best he can.

Saturday night, Colleen and Jo came over, and we hung out for a while, and watched the Cubs game together.  I am glad we got to see them again, and get to know Jo a little better.

Sunday, we headed up to Michigan for a short stay with my friend Margaret and her large dog.  The traffic was HORRENDOUS going up, and it took us 2 hours longer than it should have to get there.  

We had not anticipated another long day in the car!

Had a lovely time, though, despite the dog barking randomly in the middle of both nights, and Margaret made sure I had some Michigan goodies to bring back.

I got to put my feet in Lake Michigan for a good long time, and we wandered around Saugatuck a bit.

The trip back to Illinois on Tuesday was smooth sailing, and only took the usual 3 and a half hours.

Tuesday afternoon and evening were our quiet time, as my sister and brother in law went downtown to a concert, and then spent the night down there.  They left just as we were arriving back at their house.

I availed myself of their washer and dryer, and got all of our laundry done.  We went to the grocery store and replaced some of their food and drink that we had consumed, as well as picked ourselves up a simple supper for our quiet night at home.

It was much needed, as that was my last day of the chemo cycle, and my fatigue level was pretty high.

I slept for nearly 12 hours that night! 

Wednesday, we had a long, quiet morning at the house by ourselves, listening to the birds and relaxing.

That afternoon, Elsa and Jim got back from the city, and then Dan, his partner Elizabeth, and little Zoey came over, and took Dave and me to the Morton Arboretum.

It was chilly and breezy, but I was feeling better, and it was a lovely chance to go wander around in the woods a bit, and to visit the spot where we got married.

It was also good to have a little more time with that branch of the family, too!  Zoey brings me so much joy, just by her very existence. 

That night, we went to the home of friends Felicia and Mark, and friends Priscilla and Jim came over, too.  We had pizza and beer, and played Cards Against Humanity.

Unfortunately, our time up north was at an end, and we headed back to OK on Thursday morning.

Got home Friday evening, exhausted, but happy to have been able to go.  

Seeing my brother in such bad shape was very troubling, but the rest of the visit was good, and it was a privilege to be able to be at that wedding in that place, to be sure!

We got to enjoy all of the food we usually get while back home, except for the Greek restaurant experience.  

I had asked Felicia specifically to host us for a pizza night, rather than our usual tradition of getting together at a noisy, crowded restaurant so that I could get some real Greek food, because I knew I would be very worn out by Wednesday night.  

We will go to the Greek restaurant next time, provided my fatigue level allows it.  Maybe I won't be on this chemo the next time we go up.

Yesterday, we went grocery shopping (OH MY GOD, we needed everything, and it was the most I have ever spent on groceries, even at the holidays), and I got laundry done, and vacuumed. 

Dave finished unloading the car, and cleaned up all of the spots of cat puke on the floor that our house sitter missed (it's hard to see when it's just "spit up," and has dried, but we know all of their favorite places to puke, LOL!)

Today, I will work on the next lesson in my course, will clean the bathroom, and wash a load of towels and a load of bed sheets.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, not that every day isn't a holiday when one is retired, HAHA!

I got us some hot dogs for the occasion.  We usually have hot dogs at the 4th of July, too, but that's it.

We brought back some yummy treats from our trip, including Turano bread sandwich rolls, giardinera, Jay's potato chips, Fannie May and Pease's (from Springfield IL, my grandma's favorites) chocolates, Oke-e-Doke popcorn, beer and wine, and cherry jam. 

I gained a solid three pounds during the trip, so will get back on track with my exercise regime this coming week.

Wishing you, gentle readers, a pleasant holiday, if you celebrate, and a good week ahead.