thanks to my readers

free your mind; fill your soul

Just wanted to share my gratitude to those who have read my stories in this blog, especially my followers.  This project began to fill my days when I retired from working outside the home (almost one year ago) and has turned into a tool for sharing what I have learned in the hope that it will make a slight difference in your lives.  It provides a connection with family and friends and lately I found people from around the world are tapping into my thoughts.  I will share some of the places that have perused my site in the last few weeks.  The feng shui tips are very popular with international viewers. 

it's a small world after all...

Australia, Venezuela, Minnesota, Oregon, Israel, California, Portugal, South Africa, Canada, Kentucky, Florida, London, India, United Kingdom, Philippines, Norway, Greece, France, Oklahoma, Minnesota, New Mexico, Connecticut, Indiana, Mexico, Aruba, Ohio, Montana, New York, Finland, Mauritius, Rhode Island, Czech Republic, Serbia, Missouri, Arkansas, Korea, Belgium, Arizona, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Argentina, Singapore, Washington, Michigan, Belize, Pakistan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Denmark, West Virginia, Germany, Texas, New Zealand, Arabia, Vietnam,  Russia, Nevada, Croatia, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and mostly from Illinois.

my new ornamental from lady di :)

Life is no brief candle to me.  It is sort of a splendid torch that I have got hold of for the moment.  George Bernard Shaw

I think of life as a good book.  The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense.  Harold S. Kushner

Follow your dream...If you stumble, don't stop and lose sight of your goal, press on to the top.  For only on the top can you see the whole view.  Amanda Bradley

Life is to be an experience of constant joy, continuous creation.  Be joyful, loving, accepting, blessing and grateful. Neale Donald Walsch

Getting there isn't half the fun... it's all the fun. Robert Townsend

My sincere thanks to all for encouraging me to continue sharing my journey.  xo

california dreamin'

I spent a few days browsing homes in the San Diego area for me and Wayne to retire to.  After almost a thousand homes for sale, I found this one.  It is perfect for us.

Thoughts are things.  I can envision us sitting on this patio sipping our favorite concoctions while listening to the silence.  No chores, no worries. 

Imagination is a great thing.  I would enjoy the constantly warm weather, but would miss our sons and their families fiercely.  Perhaps they might relocate.  I know Steve and Dan would. 

This is just an exercise in exploring our options; meantime, I truly love our home in Darien.  We have it just the way we like it and debt free, to boot!  Simplification is key.  However, possibilities are endless and if life brings us the opportunity to change, so be it.  We both lived in the city of Chicago for close to 30 years; Darien close to 30 years.  Maybe it's time to think about another place.  Then I could have my naked room! Ha ha!  Whatever is meant to be.  Change is always good, however, just for today, I am content and satisfied; grateful for all our blessings.  xo

restoration

before

Last week I spent most of my days cleaning and purging the city house.  The area was hit pretty hard with flooding a few weeks ago and when that happens, you need to let the targeted area dehumidify before assessing the damage.  When dealing with as big a house as this, it takes multiple visits to go through 60 years of accumulation so we have been chipping away at repairing and clearing things out in waves.  It's the only way to do this.  We are at the final stages of the game and had a setback with the basement, so the main focus was on getting it ready to show on the market.  This meant really gutting out the storage areas, cleaning and sanitizing, scraping, sweeping and finally painting.  I enjoy working on projects, especially when I see light at the end of the tunnel, but I get on a quest and nowadays my body feels the after affects more painfully.  Picture the tin man here. 

after

I don't mind working on projects alone, for it can be therapeutic, but I do like when others pitch in.  Steve and Darcy helped to clear out the closet and went through memorabilia and kept whatever they chose.  Steve was on a mission to secure the very old fashioned table lighters and he found five of them.  They both found some money which made for a fun find.  Our buddies, Tom and Mark came by to restore the water heater - a huge lifesaver.  Thanks guys.  Dinner at Dao very soon! Wayne came by Saturday and we completed the basement together.  I must share the story that I purchased the necessary paints and supplies at my favorite Home Depot.  Josh gave me the perfect items to get the job done properly.  I was determined not to buy any more paint, and wouldn't you know it, I looked in the tool room and found just enough to finish the white portions.  Then I found the exact paint to restore the hallway, which Wayne calls battleship blue, and finally I opened a small can of almond to put on the doors and discovered it was the very same paint that was originally put on.  I had just enough to cover all that was needed.  I like those little moments.

before

As we always do, we left the house feeling good about our accomplishments.  Together we get it done. It was a long, hard fortnight, but the end result was worth it.  Today I will go in solo and clear out the attic room, which used to be our love nest.  It's kind of sentimental to me, as tomorrow will be our 37th anniversary of being together.  We spent a lot of bonding time in that room.  I'll reminisce today and it will go by more smoothly.  I plan to pack many heartwarming items from the Nalepa/Wind archives, so one day our sons will have momentos of their heritage.  We collected a half dozen bags of things for Angie and Natalie to go through.  Angie is an avid creator so she will surely use some things for her crafts. 

after

The rest of the week I hope to be at my own home.  I have a client for massage tomorrow and will visit my dad and brother toward the end of the week, but will not return to this big house project until Saturday where we both plan to wash and repair all the windows and storm windows on the upper level.  We'll have a lesson from the guy at Fronczak's on how to install new clips so they stay in the windows properly; then I will learn another thing.  We have close to 100 windows to clean.  I haven't done this for two years so we have our work cut out for us that day.  It is not easy being a homeowner, but the rewards of accomplishment felt after the work is done is worth the time and energy.  We just don't want to continue doing this any longer in our lives.  We want to simplify and focus on only one property - our very own.

sunflowers

I had to end my share with a pretty picture after all the drab rehab.   My son, Danny, and his buddies, Casey and Rudy, spent the entire weekend working at Lollapalooza. They left at 8:30 each morning and did not return until almost midnight.  It was labor intensive, but an experience unlike any other.  Today they will rest and restore their energy tanks.  My son, Mike, has been restoring his own bathroom and after repeated adjustments and plumbing and tile issues, it is finally complete.  It has been out of commission for about three months but thanks to Margarita's dad, Jon, and Mike's best buddy, Anthony, everything worked out.  Mike has learned more skills due to this project, so it is never in vain.  The visits to Bourbonnais restored my energy. 

Build Ye Life as the

Pyramid

Four Corners Converge Above

With Fire in the Middle

The Fire of Love

Life, Mind, Truth, Love

Spirit.

To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities; an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

BE HAPPY! :) xo

happy birthday sonny

uncle bill

Sonny is the nickname given by relatives down in Marion to my Uncle Bill Girtman. He is my Mom's only sibling and they grew up in a time when life was simpler and music plentiful.  He can play guitar like nobody's business and owns almost a dozen that he proudly displays in their home in Bourbonnais.  I fondly recall fantastic fun-filled Friday nights when Wayne and I were mere teenagers and we popped in their home near Midway to party with them and my folks.  You could hear the whooping and hollering down the block as they all sang, played guitars and rawhide.  His daughter, Cindy, and her husband, Billy, joined us sometimes.  How cool is that where the kids join in the partying with parents? 

uncle bill and aunt diane

The Girtmans hosted just about every Thanksgiving when we were kids and I couldn't quite figure that out.  Our family had 10 people and we went by them all the time.  We watched soap operas in Cindy's room while waiting for the delicious feast.  Sometimes I would play their albums and 45s and found we had the same taste in music.  Uncle Bill's specialty is country music and he would always play classic hillbilly songs that we listened to on vacation in Bass Lake.  They shared so many memories as we grew up and are a huge part of my childhood.  Their home was always spotless and decorated beautifully. 

his famous creations

If Uncle Bill gets involved in a new passion - look out, for he will master any new craft he decides to pursue.  He discovered one of his enormous talents in painting landscapes based on Bill Alexander, the Happy Painter, and how to frame them. The mighty fan brush! Our home is graced with many of his beautiful artworks.  We gave our son a beautiful candle painting for one of his rooms and he loves it.  Knowing Uncle Bill painted it enhances the beauty even more so.  He always has a hobby in his life, whether it be discovering our family tree, computers, painting, playing music, gardening and best of all master chef.  He even made a darkroom and took fabulous photographs that were published in the Chicago Tribune. His recipes are shared on Aunt Diane's blogg at dianesblogg@blogspot.com.  You will be amazed at their creations and I suggested they publish a cookbook.  They would make a fortune.

the girtmans

Uncle Bill is blessed with a beautiful soulmate, his Lady Di, his daughter and son-in-law, Cindy and Billy; grandkids Megan, Steve and Brittney; and Megan and Brent's princess, Juliette (his great granddaughter.)  They share the love of popcorn together and he now plays guitar while she sings.  It's in the genes!  Wayne enjoys being around Uncle Bill for he has a calming and soothing effect on him.  His laid back manner rubs off on him for as long as he's known him - 37 years. We look forward to celebrating with their family today and are grateful they are in our lives.  I must get a picture of him jamming on the guitar so I'll be clicking away today.  Here's to you, Sonny - happiest birthday and warm wishes for many more! xo

bill jammin'

his pride and joys

within an hour

sunrise @ 5:30 this morning

The birds chirping just about 5:00 are my alarm clock.  I keep the bedroom window slightly ajar for night breezes.  This lets me see the sky each morning and I can glimpse at the sun peeking through.  Today was so lovely I made the effort to click some pictures.  I was rewarded, indeed.

the break of dawn

This was how the sky looked just about 6:00 am.  By now the doggies shook their tails and wiggled their way downstairs.  Wayne was just out the door to work and I attempted to catch up on Facebook activity while sipping my coffee.

storm clouds at 6:30am

Suddenly, it felt as if night had fallen upon me and I heard the leaves on the trees swishing rapidly.  I looked outdoors as I did just a few minutes earlier and clicked the sky turning black as coal.  We had 50 mile-an-hour winds and the storm was upon us very quickly.  Wayne got soaked getting off the train, traffic was snarled and I stayed put until it subsided.  When things cleared up, I dashed in the car to visit my Dad and brought him some home-grown tomatoes from the Girtman garden.  I got there without incident and had a pleasant visit.  He was so happy with his treats. 

big daddy with garden goods

This week was filled with new adventures and endeavors that I never had to do before and as we all know, sometimes new and unknown territory can cause apprehension.  I decided to conquer my fears of getting lost on highways and went to Manteno and Bourbonnais all by myself.  Mapquest gave excellent directions this time and a little preparation and courage made for a successful trip. Today I tried my hand at lighting the pilot on a hot water heater.  I read the directions, called Wayne to make sure I lit the right area to avoid an explosion, and accomplished another endeavor.  The final chore was to rid the sink and bowls of rust build up which I tried repeatedly before and had no luck; however, for some reason, I was on a roll today and tried a new approach and lo and behold, rust stains vanished!  Now I am officially a jack of all trades and master of none.  Sometimes things just flow.  I am grateful. 

Now that dinner is in the crock and I have settled back home, Steve, Darcy and I will watch marathon episodes of Mad Men.  My heart races a teeny bit whenever I hear the theme song.  Time for a date with Don. xo

what a grand day

pee break at mcdonalds

On my journey for the day, I stopped at this cute place for a break and was delighted at how cute it was.  Who would think McDonalds fancied such things?  Lately my time has been spent cleaning up and coordinating numerous changes for the family.  The boys are getting ready to go back to college very soon and summer is waning.  We have spent way too many days repairing the Chicago home and are finally ready to sell it.  Praise be to God. After conversing with a realtor for over an hour, we decided it is time to unload another burden and simplify our lives.  One more huge wave with the torture chamber and we will be free.  Sigh!

veteran's home in monteno

My next project is relocating Uncle Steve to the Veteran's Home in Manteno.  After touring this facility I decided this is where he needs to be - closer to us so we can visit more often and still have the best of care.  Lucky for me it is only a few minutes from my Aunt Diane and Uncle Bill, so every time I head over there I can stop by them, just as I did today.  What a relief it was to be with them.  Talk about happy pills.  Just casually looking at their gorgeous home and garden brings me joy.  The energy is welcoming and filled with love.  They are so happy to live in Bourbonnais.  I left with a bag filled with ripened tomatoes for us and my Dad.  He will be thrilled when I deliver them tomorrow.

bears in bourbonnais

Uncle Bill gave me the grand tour of the town in his Cadillac and we saw the Olivet Nazarene University field where the Chicago Bears practice for the next few weeks.  Do you realize their port-o-potties are in Bears colors - blue and orange?  Yep.  The whole town gathers for this extravaganza and incidentally, Bourbonnais is noted for being a sports town - everyone is super involved in all types of sports and the fields everywhere are proof positive of this.

uncle bill and aunt diane

We had lunch at this great place - Brickstone. The burger and fries were to die for - so yummy.  They make beer on the premises so we will have to indulge during another visit.   We chatted for awhile and honestly, I did not want to leave.  I could hang out at their digs all the time.  Brent and Princess Julie stopped by so I was able to get a smooch from her.  I almost took Sally and Abby home with me - they are so adorable - but contained myself. 

I thank God for days like these.  Yesterday was a pistol and wore me ragged; today was my silver lining day.  Thanks Aunt Diane and Uncle Bill for your hospitality and your love.  Next time Wayne will join us and he will bring his 12 string so you can jam together.  Until then...xo

and so it begins...

blessings

We attended a wedding ceremony (no, it was not Chelsea's) for Laisa and Norman at the beautiful Carriage Greens Country Club in Darien.  Family and friends gathered around the gazebo to witness the wedding vow exchange and proceeded to the reception afterward.  I just love the little girl in pink as she was blowing bubbles.  Perfect touch.

laisa and norman

The happy couple just after being married.

mike as groomsman

Mike was thrilled with the whole process and kept commenting on how uplifting planning and participating in this wedding is.  This makes him even more excited to begin his own with Margarita.

how do these things go on?

Poor things - they were bewildered as to how to apply the boutonniere, but with some help, they got it done.

lots of love from guests

The weather cooperated so all could enjoy the ceremony without ruining their attire.

better take note how it's done

I am sure Mike took note of all the details from his buddy's celebration.  Practice runs make you aware of what to expect.

the best part

The cutest thing happened when the ring bearer decided he did not want to carry that pillow any longer and threw it down.  Kids make a wedding special and the last time Mike stood up to a wedding was when he was this boy's age, for his godmother Karen's wedding.  By the way, the little boy happens to be the happy couple's son!

Congratulations to Laisa and Norman.  Thanks for sharing your special day with us.  xo