Home Sweet Home

This past week found me on the road to Chicago on Monday.  The trip went surprising well with traffic not a huge problem and no car issues.   My sister was happy to see me and we had a good time just hanging out and celebrating her birthday.  She's just starting home dialysis instead of going to a dialysis unit 3 times a week.  Now she can do it at home but it's a process that requires training, room to store all the MANY supplies required as well as the space for the unit.   The young lady who came to train her was very nice but not the best instructor.  You're suppose to have a buddy there with you to help incase of emergency and Midge is trying to get her helpers lined up.  Sometimes I think it would be easier to just go the the dialysis unit instead but I'm not the one driving 3 mornings a week at 4:45am in all kinds of weather.  So she's been rearranging her bedroom into a dialysis room and still has a few things to change. She's so spunky and won't let this get her down.  She's an inspiration to me.  So what did we do last week? Well, we managed to make it to our favorite thrift/antique store.  We always find something there we just can't live without.  I only grabbed 2 items that fit that bill:

This little cake plate will find good use with some Easter goodies on it next weekend! 

I thought this bunny was cute but Midge thought it was kind of creepy.  Ha!  I put him in the bathroom for a decoration!  (I still think he's cute!!) 

I found this  mad hatter hat there but didn't buy it...just put it on and we had a good laugh over it!
 We did shop at real stores too and I bought some new shirts at Kohl's.  I hardly ever shop there but did get some good buys.   On Wednesday we went with Midge's daughters, Amy and Katie, to get facials.  I've never had one before so it was a new experience.  I was told my skin was pretty good with no sun damage.  That's amazing since I'm always in the sun in the summer and tanned like roast chicken when I was young,,,baby oil anyone?  It was pretty relaxing and my skin felt like a baby's butt afterward.   So we all laughed as we compared our experiences.  Not sure if I'll do it again but it was fun.  Then the four of us went to a new Greek restaurant for lunch. We laughed a ton here too.  Those cute nieces of mine are a stitch!  A nurse and a cop...and the stories they can tell!  

Here we are post lunch and no makeup.  Left to right...Katie the cop, me their favorite Aunt, Midge, and Amy the nurse.  Love these girls and my sister is the best.  Happy Birthday Midge! May we celebrate a million more together!

If you know anyone from Chicago or have been there you know how famous Portillo's is.  Midge loves their hotdogs so we stopped here one day for lunch.  Yum!

No trip to visit my sis is complete without snapping a pic of her pups.  Miss Hope and Midge's  new puppy, Flynn.  Too cute and really good dogs although Flynn still has lots of puppy in him.  He's only 7mo old after all!  All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes with hugs and tears.  I left Friday morning and made it home safe and sound.  It was good to be back with Jack and Annabelle and saying,  Ahh..Home Sweet Home.  Love you Midge and we'll get back together soon!  My cheeks still hurt from all our laughing!   

Luck Of The Irish!

 Well, I can't say I have the luck of the Irish since no Irish blood flows in my veins but I think it's grand that this day is celebrated with gusto!  I did win $2 on a lottery scratch off.  Does that count?  I also made some corned beef and cabbage today but forgot to take a pic..oh well I still have some pics to share.  Spring is on Tuesday which just happens to be my sister's birthday and I'll be heading out tomorrow for a visit.  I know I'll have some photos to share when I get home.  Speaking of Spring, my yard looks like someone came and put bouquets of daffodils all over!

A few crocus thrown in for variety!  I picked a few today while it was snowing!  I know they don't last long after being cut but I'll enjoy them for the short term.  The other day I was walking Annabelle and our neighbor's alpaca were enjoying the nice day.  The baby, little Beano, and Annabelle had a moment:

When they actually touched noses they scared each other and jumped up a mile!  It was pretty cute to see. Well, not much else going on as I'm packing up and heading out to Chicago tomorrow.  Hopefully the weather will be good.  Annabelle is staying home with Jack because my sister's new pup, Flynn, is a bit too playful for her.  So wish me the luck of the Irish for safe travels and a good week with Midge.

Heading into the sunset!

Let's March!

 I looked back at my March posts from last year and my title for this month was March madness.  I didn't want the same title but I realized it was posted on the same date as today's..March 7th.  So let's March on and get to the question of the hour:  How's your colon doing?  What? Well, it's national colorectal month and time to celebrate getting those pipes cleaned out and checked.  Colon cancer has gone up in younger folks and now the recommendation is to have a colonoscopy starting at age 45.  That's especially important if you have a family history of colon cancer.  I've been working at our endoscopy lab for the past 2 years and have learned a lot and also have seen a lot of young people with tumors that turn out to be cancer.  If you're a smoker or have been one in the past you have a higher risk for polyps.  Men more than women.  I know getting this done isn't on anyone's fun list but the dreaded prep drink is much easier now and not a whole gallon jug to swallow.  You can also go the little box method if you don't have a family history or had previous polyps.  Done at home and sent off it's a good check and pretty accurate.  That's my soap box for now so let's go on to life here in my neck of the woods.  The weather, like all over the country has been up and down.  We had 72 de on Monday and now snow will hit on Sunday along with the "Spring forward" clock mess.  Now that's March madness!  In a month from tomorrow a solar eclipse is heading our way.  Ohio is in a perfect location and Ashland is one of the towns to see it.  That is if the weather is clear.  A gamble around here!  In anticipation the town is expecting a ton of folks and schools will be closed along with many businesses.  I got a call from my primary Doc's office and they cancelled my appointment for that day too.  It's a Monday and I don't usually work Mondays so I guess I better buy a pair of those special glasses and have a peek!  I could even rent out my yard that day! I'm sure the field across the street will be filled with gawkers so maybe I should set up a lemonade stand and cookies too!  Hmm...interesting.  Well, on to some pics of our weekend.  The kids came over for lunch on Sunday and the weather was amazing! I made some spicy tortellini soup:

It's a recipe Jack found and we all really like it.  I also made some sliders.  I never made any before but it was super simple and simply delish:

I was able to capture the last 2!  We also had Asian salad (no pics..all gone!), some chips and then pie for dessert.  No pic of the pie but it was store bought and not blog worthy.   My oldest son, Jack, came and brought their pupper, Kip:

He's a big boy but such a sweetie! He and Annabelle get along fine and he just loves to run his heart out around the pines.  I bet he slept great Sunday night!  In other news,  I know that my blog friend Cathy from Acorn Hollow is a user of King Arthur flour.  It's made in her neck of the woods but we do have it here.  I decided to see if it made a difference in my cooking and tried in my chocolate chip cookies.

These are the last of the batch.  I took some to work yesterday and they were gone in no time and everyone raved about them.  I must say they were yummy!  Was it the flour? The chocolate? My secret recipe? Was everyone just extra hungry?  I guess I will have to make more and find out! Ha!  Speaking of work, I'll be going there tomorrow and it's a meeting day so we start at 6:30a.  Yikes!  I chose to work 3 days this week and will be happy when I'm done for the week.  In a couple of weeks I'll be heading out to Chicago to visit Midge for her birthday.  I'll have a nice span of time off!  This weekend looks to be a rainy/snowy one so I hope to take a little time out to start the book my daughter-in-law sent me for my birthday:

I'll let you know how I like it.  Well, March is marching on quickly and so am I:

Annabelle has the right idea! Night all!