Empty Nest

Now that the nest is empty, we have time to relax by the fire and enjoy each other.

Moving Day #2

This past Wednesday, we moved GP into the University Suites dorm. He's sharing a room with another kid and the whole suite with another pair of guys.

He was pretty apprehensive about it all, but apparently he has found some friends and lost his voice from hollering at all the welcome events.

The suite has two rooms, a kitchen, living room, shower, and toilet.

Shocking!

I was playing around with one of my amps and noticed that I was getting a pretty solid high-voltage shock from the guitar cable plugged into it. When I touched the cable to another piece of equipment, there were blue sparks. Not good! It had a 3-prong plug, so this should not happen. Turns out the 3-prong plug was not connected to the amp somewhere along the 45 year old cord. Installed a new cord and not it's not shocking me.

Horses

Last weekend we went out in the country to a stable to watch GP's ex-girlfriend (our friend now) ride in a competition.

The 50/50

CP's place has some nice common spaces where the kids can gather during crappy weather.

CP's room faces into this big courtyard where there are grills, cornhole, and lots of tables & chairs.

This is the rooftop clubhouse. The far wall all opens up to the courtyard. I can't imagine how fun this place must be on away game weekends.

Moving Day #1

This week we moved CP into his apartment at the 50/50. It's a 4-bedroom 4-bath 4-guy place on the 8th floor across from his old dorm. It half owned by the university and half is private, thus the name "50/50". Floors 1-7 are all a parking garage. 

JP couldn't do anything until the place was clean to her standards, which are substantially different than the cleanliness standards of college guys.

The windows all face the interior rooftop courtyard where there are grills & tables.

CP was done by the time he got his room organized.

No New House

JP is getting the itch for a new home. Trouble is, with two kids in college, a new house isn't in the cards. But.... 

Sherwin Williams had a 35% off paint sale last weekend, so we now have a new dining room. The new paint makes the room feel twice as big as it was.

It's funny, because exactly six years ago we completed the hardwood floor in the living room. We have a picture of the dining room all full of the furniture and piano.

Frog & Toad

This year has been unusually wet and we are overloaded with toads.

SP has never met a toad before. He is obsessed with this guy. Every day he shoots out to the sundeck to see his new buddy.

We also have a few tree frogs.

Shutterbug

We've been babysitting L's camera from next door. GP picked it up and found that it's kinda fun taking pictures (especially with a nice camera!).

The lens is an 18-400 mm f/5.6 with image stabilization (!!!!!). Such a lens was not even a pipe dream when I was really into photography.

What's Better than One Shiba?

What's better than one shiba inu? Two! The neighborhood dogsitter was on vacation, so JP is the backup dogsitter. 

We babysat the shiba from up the street. The two got along like a wolfpack. She thought she could push the cat around like she does at home. Her cat at home doesn't have claws like V does. Big difference! 

M&S Wedding

We went to OKC for the weekend and the fantastic wedding of our nephew, MK.

Nana's cousins came in from CA and we had a fun time.

SOL Live at The Bay

GP's band played at a place called The Bay. It's an incredible non-profit skateboard park / coffee house / concert venue east of downtown close to where CP works. It's a great place for the local kids to hang out and be safe.

Summer Firepit

KA (our dog sitter and surrogate daughter) brought some smores parts and one of her dogs over for a firepit. What a perfect night!

The Cities

I had to go to Minnesota for work, so JP came along and we took an extra day to explore the city. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner outside at some tasty places.

4th of July 2019

We enjoyed a beautiful day for the 4th at the G's pool and later on our street as the neighborhood erupted. The guy down the street probably had $3,000 worth of fireworks, which made for quite a show.

Sherman Tank Battle

One of my favorite things about NE is the Fourth of July - fireworks are legal and abundant. CP & L from next door constructed an epic tank battle with 48 tanks, firecrackers, crackle bombs, saturn missles, and lots of fuse and zip ties.

Still Flooded

We flew into Omaha and over the Missouri River - It's still out of its banks. It has been a wet year.

Shopping & Dining

After devoting a day to the Cubs, we devoted a day to eating and shopping. We stumbled across a nice place (Smith & Wollensky) right on the river and enjoyed an amazing lunch on a perfect day. I had something new: a crab (instead of shrimp) cocktail. It was awesome!

For shopping, we hit Macy's, where I scored a sweet new green velvet sportcoat, and DN picked up a three piece suit. After that we went to Neiman Marcus and realized that even if we win the lottery, we still would not have enough money to shop there. 

We were here at Daley Plaza two years ago for our anniversary. I think we have a new summer tradition.

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For dinner, we hit Catch 35 - an amazing seafood place. CG ordered scallops. The menu said it came with spare rib hash. It did not mention that it came with two pounds of it, and that it was so incredible! Wow - new favorite side dish!! 

Cubs!!

DN got us some nice tickets to a Cubs game. We dedicated an entire day to the event. 

In the 13 years that we lived in Chicagoland, I never made it to a Cubs game. This was an exciting event for me!

Before the game we wandered around Wrigley - what a cool place!

JP & the girls discovered that you can get wine at the stadium. We now have a Cubbies wine carafe.

JP is a Chicago style hotdog fiend.