family time

We had a nice family day today 

    Jackie's brother Bob, his wife Anita, and their sister Judy came out for a visit.

    Bob and Anita live in Florida and make it up every August for a couple of weeks.

    Anita has a sister in Olney, so they stay there for a while then come north to visit Judy in Rolling Meadows and any other family members that are free.  Like us.

    Usually they can escape the Florida August heat, but they ran into Illinois August heat this year.

    We had a nice time talking, laughing and eating....Portillo's beef and some delicious lemon cake.  

    At one point Emily brought Liam over to meet everyone.  Liam is a 140 pound Irish wolfhound.  He is a gentle soul, and dog Beth's barking did not even bother him.  Beth, on the other hand, had a couple of moments where she gave Liam hell in dog language.

    Beth has a toy basket.  We gave her a chew once, and she did not like it.  So we stuck it in her toy basket.  

    The first time Liam came over, not  long after we got Beth, he found the chew and demolished it.

    When he came over a second time, we had put a chew in the toy basket and he again found it.

    Today he came in and went straight to the toy basket, nosing toys out of the way until he found the chew.   It was kind of funny to watch.

    But like all good days, this one had to end.  We'll have to wait until next year to see them again.

    Speaking of endings, I was truly sad to hear Jimmy Buffett died.  I don't consider myself a parrot head, but I have been to 7 or 8 of his concerts and have had a ball at every one of them.

    So Carrie, if you are reading this, thank you for inviting me to that first Buffett show with you and Chris.  Every show has been a blast, even the ones involving mud and rainstorms.  

    I sometimes wish I had Jimmy's love of life and spirit of adventure.  But I am not that kind of person.  I tend to stay on the safe side, and sometimes that is no fun.

    He sang, "I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead."  And live his life he truly did.

    I guess we are all growing older, but not up, which was Jimmy's mantra.  He will be missed by all his fans.

Peace and Love