It's Summertime

Happy Sunday everyone....isn't this a gorgeous view of the city of Chicago taken from the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Today is Chicago's Birthday.  On August 4, 1830, the city of Chicago was laid out, which at the time had a population of less than 100. On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was incorporated with a population of 350. By 1840 the boomtown had a population of over 4,000. Population now? Just over 2.7 million! Happy birthday, Chicago!  

And joining this 2.7 million people this week will be 6 of us from my collaborative blog, Focusing On Life.  We have been planning this get-together for months, hoping that all 10 of us could gather, but you know that many times life, schedules, families, money and jobs interferes with the best laid plans. But I am thrilled that 6 of us will be enjoying time together this week and I am going to love showing off Chicago.  And how can this group come to my corner of the universe without enjoying our beautiful countryside with all of our great midwestern barns.  Tuesday evening the first one arrives, followed by the rest on Thursday afternoon....so look out Chicagoland, here we come.

I will be taking a break this week and probably through the month of August from my normal almost daily blogging.  Too much to do...so I am taking that much needed August Break like many of you.  I may pop in and out with a short piece now and again.

I hope you all are grabbing these last bits of summer before we leap into Fall and all of its beauty.   I am planning on savoring these last days and drink in all that summer goodness before it becomes nothing but a memory.  

"it's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine....it's summertime."  ~  Kenny Chesney

Until next time....

Letters on Friday....whew glad it's over

Dear Week....another week that was filled to the brim with the good, the bad and the ugly. Monday started out great, but there were a few bumps in the road....say, computer crash.  Monday afternoon she just wouldn't wake up, kept sleeping no matter what I did.  So that next morning I took her into the Geek Squad...no good, she wouldn't wake up for the Geek Squad either.  In other words....dead.

Dear New Computer....after hearing the words, dead, nothing can be done to save her, except spend a bunch of money on a 4 year old computer.  Nope, not gonna do that.  Found a good deal on another HP laptop, 17" inch screen so went for it.  And paid the Geek Squad to do a search and rescue of all my pictures, documents etc.  The only thing they can't do is rescue programs.  So it's re-load all my photo editing programs, WORD, EXCEL and anything else I can remember.  But here I am again, typing away on my new laptop, and glad to be back.

Dear New Fence....you know I really wanted to keep my old fence until at least late Fall or early Sp;ring, but after one whole side decided it was done for and just completely fell splat on the driveway I guess I needed to re-think that Fall project.  As I type this it is almost complete, but I can't help but smile and then frown when I look around and realize that there wasn't a daylily that runs along the front of the fence that wasn't stepped on and smushed...men, can't they tiptoe thru the tulips??

Dear Office....how much paper do you think one can accumulate in 22 years???  The answer is ALOT.  It has taken me days to go thru every drawer and shelf in the office and I still haven't completely rid myself of everything.  Keep in mind there were 2 desks, one for me, one for my sweetheart, 3 filing cabinets and 3 bookshelves full.  The last 5 years I worked for AT&T I worked from this space, and in the past few years the room has become a catch-all.  Think "hoarders" but not quite.  I kept the stuff to 3 feet high not ceiling high, no dead animals except a possible dead spider or fly, and no food-stuff....so I guess it can't be considered hoarding until you match all of those descriptions.  To tell you how long it has been since the last clean-up....I found 1996 Tax Forms...disgusting.  But on a high note- I did find lots and lots of change (coins).  The last few years that my sweetie was at home he had a habit of hiding money.  It wasn't a lot of money, all coins, no paper (darn it) and he would find spots to hide it in.  I have uncovered all of those spots, so I think next week I am making a trip to the bank to deposit said found money just to see how much I accumulated.

Dear Girlfriends....a fine day we spent on our trip to Emerson Creek Pottery.  A place that will lift anyone's spirits with its beautiful surroundings, colorful flowers, and out of this world food.  The definite highlight of the week....

It's Friday again, and I am posting on my collaborative blog, Focusing On Life. where I am musing on "Feed" in more ways than one...a hop over would be appreciated.

Linking with Nancy for

Until next time.....

Putting It All In Perspective.....

So have you wondered where in the heck I've been???....well, maybe not, but I know a couple of you might just wonder why I haven't posted since Sunday.  Say slowly.....computer crash.   She stopped working on Monday afternoon, took her into the Geek Squad on Tuesday morning with high hopes that she could be revived again....but alas, she had drawn her last breath and could no longer be my constant kitchen countertop companion.  The word was "motherboard"....now you would think that a motherboard could withstand just about anything, we mother's do, but apparently a motherboard is another animal, doesn't last forever.  Soooo....off to computer shopping land, bought one, got a good deal, paid the Geek Squad a bunch of money to transfer all my stuff from my old to my new and I am back in business.  Well, almost, I still have to re-load all of my programs, photoshop, word, excel etc....!!!  But my kitchen countertop companion is back, albeit new and with Windows 8...a slight learning curve, but really not bad.

Today is a  REALLY busy day...painter arrived at 7:45 AM to strip the wallpaper and re-paint the office (and speaking of office....you never realize how much an office can accumulate in a 22 year span of time, uncovering pictures, old letters, mementos, and piles of papers that are useless now, who needs 1996 tax forms??....some that made me laugh, others that made me cry) and the fence people came to install a new fence....which has now become a major issue. The gentleman that gave me the quote on the fence and scheduled the date failed to tell me about clearing the fence line at least by 2 feet.  Not going to happen....yard is full of perennials, bushes, plants and I have been talking to the installers ever since they arrived at 8:00 AM this morning which is fairly challenging since only one speaks English.   IF I would have known about this 2 foot line issue I would have definitely waited until FALL to do the new install....everything is ready to die back by FALL.  But instead they cut down the old fence, so I am really in a pickle, nothing left but the fence posts.  I am trying to take deep breaths and think positive at this point. We are waiting on a call from the Supervisor, been waiting quite a long time..aha OWNER just showed up and it is amazing what happens when the owner of the company shows up.  He showed the crew some creative ways to work around the bushes....love those smart owners.  So currently they are digging the holes for the new fence with the promise of finishing by days end.

I bought a sign yesterday that said...."I'm not sure if life is passing me by or trying to run me over." That is exactly what life has felt like this past week, that life is definitely running me over.  But then as I am standing in the front watching the fence come down, my neighbor and fellow book club member walks by and proceeds to tell me that her Mother has brain cancer and is failing very quickly.  So when you put all that in perspective, a bunch of plants and a computer that crashed or your Mother, there is no contest.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."  ~  Theodore Roosevelt

Until next time.....