Happy Birthday, Harry

Today is Harry's 67th birthday.

He was born at St. Anthony Hospital in Michigan City about 5 1/2 months after me.  His mother had a doctor's appointment that day and had just gotten home on the bus when the contractions started.  She barely made it back to the hospital in time.  Harry was their third child and first son.  And he was a real cutie.

A little while ago I conducted an 'in-person' interview with him and here's how it went.

Happy Birthday, Harry.  Are you having a good day?  Other than having a cold, I'm having a real good day.  What have you done so far?  I slept in and had carrot cake for breakfast.  Are you thinking about seeing a doctor anytime soon for this cold that you've had for weeks?  It's always a possibility.

Do you have any special plans the rest of the day?  We're going to have a nice dinner at William B's.

I know you're the grandpa of 20 grandchildren and the great-grandpa of 4.  How do you feel about that?
Proud.  It's kind of mind-boggling when you think about it.  It's not something you would have foreseen in your future?  No not at all.

What do you like best about it?  Just looking at them and watching them grow and how much each one of them changes.

What were the highlights of the past year.  This has been my first full year of retirement and it has been great.

What do you like best about retirement.  Not having to get up early every day.

Are there any drawbacks?  None!

How do you feel about both your sons being in the Army?  It's pretty awesome and at times pretty scary.

 

Do you have any special goals or plans for the coming year?  Play more golf and play golf with you. 

And we're really looking forward to being in Colorado when Dan gets back from Afghanistan.

What can you tell us about yourself that most people might not know?   I like all the Chicago Sports teams.    Except one.

I like sitcoms and we enjoy American Idol and Dancing With the Stars.

 And every single night I have to have a bowl Doritos.

 

And that was about all I could get out of him.  But there's lots I could say about him.  Harry's a sweet, easy-going guy.  He not only enjoys his grandchildren but he has a real way with them.

He loves his kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and his wife.

 

He's a good driver and it's a good thing because he's driven us all over the United States.  He's one of the nicest guys I've ever known and one of the smartest.  And best of all, he has a sense of humor that's quirky, clever, and unexpected.  Harry's a wonderful person, father, grandpa, great grandpa and husband.  And I'm one very lucky girl.

So Happy Birthday, Sweetie.  I hope it's all you deserve and more and I hope the coming year is your best ever but not as great as the many years to come.  (Oh, and if you're not feeling much better tomorrow, I'm dragging you to the doctor.)

Happy Birthday, Laurel

Today is my sister, Laurel's, birthday.  She is a tiny bit over 2 years younger than me but for most of the years I've known her that hasn't mattered at all.  (It does seem like there were a couple of years in our teens when we didn't have much in common but that was a short time a long time ago.)

In honor of her birthday, I thought I'd share a few things that not everybody might know about her.

And we'll start with the very early years.  She's always been blond but when she was really little, she was a real towhead.  Here she is with our little brother whose birthday is also today and who was born exactly a year after Laurel.

There were two girls and two boys in our family and Laurel and I were almost inseparable during our growing up years.

We grew up on a farm and spent all our leisure and work times together.  We shared responsibility for breakfasts, helping with supper, cleaning up after, feeding the rabbits, and weeding the garden.  We shared hours playing with the kittens and lambs, riding our horse, playing baseball in the orchard, and walking down the field road.

She always carried her babies like this:  (She's 7 months pregnant here)

We spent the most time together as our kids were growing up.  In fact, we used to take turns cleaning our houses.  It was so much more fun with two doing the work instead of one.

 

 She's a mover and a shaker.  She stayed with us a short time a few years ago and we finally got the wallpaper taken down in our hall and living room.  We also re-designed one of our ponds and probably did lots of other little projects that don't come to mind right now.

She bought a house all by herself, improved it (a lot!), and now rents it out.

She has three beautiful daughters and two handsome sons.

 

She's a baby and little kid magnet.  They all seem to fall in love with her at first sight.  (Even my little namesake.)

She's fun-loving.

 

But quiet and un-assuming.

Her legs and hand were once featured on a billboard on I-94.

She's married to a wonderful man who shares her love for almost everything including travel.

She and I took an overnight trip to Missouri and returned on a bus a couple of days late.

And we took a trip to North Dakota and returned on a bus a couple of days late.

We shared an apartment, rode the South Shore together every morning and every night when we both worked in Chicago, dated and later married two guys who worked on the South Shore, and shared every secret, confidence, joy, and pain that two sisters could share.

And most importantly, she's a wonderful person who would do anything for anybody.  She's never one to let grass grow under her feet and has always striven to improve herself and help those around her improve as well.   She's an excellent landscaper, decorator, and even a great golfer.  For all these things, I should be a little jealous, but I'm not.  I know I'm the lucky one.  She's my sister.

So, happy birthday, Laurel.  I hope it's awesome!!!

Reno Week, Day 7

Day 7 was another beautiful day in Michigan City.  We were so blessed all week with the weather.  We had one brief rain shower and with all the open windows and doors, there were no flying insects - no mosquitoes in the bedrooms and no flies in the house.  It just doesn't get any luckier than that.

Right away the guys started putting siding on the east end of the house and they were fast!! 

And with that extra dimension, we were starting to see how it was going to look.
Unfortunately at that point Sarah and family had to leave.  We would miss Mike's hard work and Sarah's meal planning and execution as well as her unparalleled dish washing skills.
The back was wrapped, windowed (except for the patio slider) and ready for siding.
And in front Patty and Katie especially were working hard to get the flower bed ready for planting

 while Anna worked tirelessly on the cleanup.


All of a sudden the west end of the house was prepped for siding too.

 
Here's our hard working crew at lunch.

But the break didn't last long and before we knew it they were hard at it again and just like magic the slider was in.

 Jack and Zac did a celebratory tree hang.

 And the siding experts finished up the west end of the house.

 Patty, David, Katie, and I made a quick trip to Lowes for landscaping plants and Patty and Katie got right to work on the design and planting.

 In back, Chris and Dave were doing the final preps for siding.

And Steve was installing the third amazing porch light.  He's the one who told us about these lights and they are incredible.  They burn a low ambient light which is really pretty from dusk to dawn but if someone approaches, they become a security light - immediately going to bright and intense.

 Here's the one he installed on the east end of the house.

But as fast as things were moving, it was impossible to stay ahead of nightfall and lights were set up one more time. Here Chris and Dave are nearing the end.

 And here it is.....one low key but triumphant fist bump.

And the project was done.  The people who said it couldn't be done had obviously never run into honey badgers like ours.