Sweet Home...Crummy Weather!

I took a bit of time off of work and went home to Chicago this past week

to spend time with Bill (still not fully transitioned to AL) and see 

many friends and family. It was wonderful to spend time with people I love.

The weather on the other hand...not so much! 

Tuesday afternoon when I arrived was beautiful, so first order of business

was a walk with my lovely silver ladies

Sierra and Reyka

They are not the best walkers in the world (especially when wanting to sniff in different directions),

but I love seeing them trot along side one another enjoying some exercise.

Wednesday - lunch with some of my former NNP and MD friends in Milwaukee

and then dinner with Jill & Justin in Grayslake. 

I didn't take any photos of this day, sorry! I think the ridiculous rainstorm

made me not want to be photographed! It rained and rained and then rained some more...

Which resulted in waking up at 4 am on Thursday to this scene:

 About 3 inches of water in the basement at my in-laws :(

That's my bed on the left of the photo. 

Needless to say, I did not return to it for the rest of the week.

I took this photo once it got light out (maybe 6:30a?) to show how much

water was in the retention area across the street. It was significantly higher about

an hour or so earlier. I'm thankful my in-laws didn't sustain terrible damage. Many

homes in the neighborhood (including my brother/sister in-law & our old house) 

got hit hard and are going to be cleaning up for a long time.

In addition to flooding, the dreaded 'wintry mix' made an appearance on Friday!

                   

     

This kind of weather is what makes living in the Midwest in Spring rather intolerable at times.

It can be disgusting and snow...in APRIL.

I haven't been in the South for too long, but I am already a total wuss about the cold.

This Chicago girl wanted it be 75 - 80 degrees and sunny!

Okay, enough complaining about the elements!!!! 

I was so so blessed to spend time with many people whom I don't get to see enough!

 Bill and I meeting sweet baby Caris, 

our friends' Dave & Brynnen's 3 1/2 week old daughter. 

 My beautiful grandma and I! My mom and I stopped by to

visit her for a bit after a delicious lunch at Cooper's Hawk on Friday.

 On Saturday, Bill and I had lunch with my Dad, Pavlina and little brother, Christopher.

I'm blurry in this photo but I still love how both of us are laughing.

Christopher will be seven(!) in May. He is so sweet, smart and polite.

We met up with them for lunch in Morris at R-Place Cafe. The restaurant has this old

set of marionettes (in background) who are supposed to sing and dance for a quarter. 

Sadly, they were not working...perhaps Saturday is their day off???

 I took the train into the city on Saturday night to meet a few Rush girls. 

My dear friend, Kate (center), who recently joined the transport team at Lurie Children's Hospital,

had just completed her first helicopter transport!!! A celebratory drink was in order!

Jenny (left), Hannah (right) and I moved on to one of Chicago's latest hotspots -

"Untitled". Hannah's awesome roomie scored us entry to this swanky joint 

which channelled a speak-easy vibe of the Prohibition era. 

I had a fabulous Moscow Mule - a drink Jenny and I 

came to love on our second trip to New Orleans.

Sunday - brunch with life-long friends: Lauren, Chantelle and Kari (L-R).

I could tell some stories about our times together! Our connection

is through church as girls. Kari and have known each other since birth,

Chantelle and I go back to kindergarten and Lauren and I met in 5th grade.

Our jr high/high school youth group is what cemented our bond. 

I usually get to catch up 4-5 times a year with them and we are always "that" table 

in a restaurant - usually having way too much fun catching up, but also

tackling serious issues in our lives and the world around us. 

They're an amazing group of women whom I miss tremendously! 

It was great to be at home for the week, but I'll have to seriously reconsider

coming back in April again! The trip back to my new 'home' was

marred by an unplanned overnight stay in Atlanta... who knew I flying back

on the 1st real day of airline sequestration cuts??? Oh well, I'm back in

one piece and looking for non-stop flights in the future :)

Tomorrow is an exciting day in the house building project!

I'm sitting down with the builder, contractor, etc to make final adjustments 

on our plan so they can begin work on May 15th! Woo hoo!