September: Project 365, the 2016 Edition

Sunday, September 4

Brats on the grill is how we celebrated Labor Day a day early. Enjoyed the evening with Kyle, Tina and the kids. Simon was quite proud of his prowess on his trike. He'd hop on, take a trip around the driveway, and hop off:

Until one trip down the driveway ended in a spill. He normally jumps back up and says "I okay!" but he suffered scrapes on arms, legs and face. He was most definitely not okay!

Pobrecito :(

Wednesday, September 7

In Chicago we discovered Uber! So much easier to get around and not have to worry about finding (or paying) for a parking space.

Have to share this über cute studio photo of Betsy! That face!

Thursday, September 8

We went to Chicago for a five-day training course with the new business (HP Home Rescue). The training took place at the Hyatt Place in South Chicago. I thought this art installation was really cool, comprised of around 10,000 tiny kitschy souvenirs.

Friday, September 9

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY TO TINA!!! 

Cannot believe my baby is three decades old :) They celebrated by going to the Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky.

Saturday, September 10

The weather was (mostly) beautiful during our stay in Chicago, but we only got to see the sunlight during breaks. During lunch Ivan ventured up to the roof to take some pictures. I really liked this one:

Over to the other side and this was his view:

In the evening there was a meet-and-greet event and we had our picture taken with Than Merrill, one of the co-owners of the real estate investing educational company doing the training. Some of you may remember him from Flip This House (his team was featured on the show from 2007-2009).

Sunday, September 11

Sort of felt like shouting "School's out! School's out!" when our training ended :) Here's the sidewalk outside the conference center. In the midst of large, tall buildings and concrete everywhere, it was refreshing to see a bit of green.

Monday, September 12

We stayed in Chicago an extra couple of days, but switched hotels to be closer to Midway Airport. It didn't take us long to realize there was an IKEA nearby. A little bit of online research indicated IKEA now carries some GF options, including some vegan meatballs that were introduced last year.

I won't be ordering them again. I've read their ribs are also GF so I'll try those next time.

Honestly, the whole Chicago eating experience was sad. Mostly because of the area where we were; there just weren't any good options for dining out. Our first night we went to a restaurant I shall not name, but which supposedly had GF options. But then I noticed tiny print at the bottom of the menu that said, "Gluten free ingredients but not a gluten free environment." What does that even mean? Well, in the case of this particular place it meant they cooked the GF pasta IN THE SAME WATER as regular pasta. What?!?! How can they claim it's gluten free when they do that?! After some online searching, we learned about a GF store/restaurant (they had a few stools and a microwave to heat up what you bought) that wasn't too far away. After two days of salad, salad and more salad, I was starving! So we took an Uber there, ate, liked it, and I bought several ready-to-eat meals to take for the next few days' lunches. And on Friday we went to the closest Whole Foods and stocked up for the weekend. Next time we go to Chicago, I hope we can stay in the area where there are better options for eating out!

Tuesday, September 13

The reason we stayed in Chicago was so we could pick up our former co-worker at the airport. Tito brought some things for us from Argentina, so it worked out well to get those things from him, and be able to spend some time together catching up. First we went to a pizzeria near the airport -- turned out the owner is Argentine! (Yes, I ate salad again but boy, did that deep dish look and smell amazing!)

Then Tito had to go through all his suitcases to pull out our things. We'd parked on a shady side street so it was easy to line up the suitcases on the grass. We'd also brought along a suitcase to replace the old one of ours Tito had brought (no wheels, awkward to haul around), so there was some reorganizing to do. It was too funny so I had to snap this photo!

Wednesday, September 14

What's wrong with this picture?

Thursday, September 15

Kyle was out of town for a big RV show in Pennsylvania, so I spent a few days with Tina and the kids. Simon was thrilled to show me his new train tent:

Tina had a photo shoot in the morning but as soon as she was done, we were out the door and on our way to Costco. The kids enjoyed having lunch there. Betsy was lovin' the hot dog!

Friday, September 16

I'd taken a Sonoma GF flatbread (my favorite frozen GF food so far) and Tina made a lovely  caprese salad to go with it for lunch. Yum!

Thursday, September 22

Work progresses on the house near Chapman Lake:

Totally stealing this from Jon's Facebook timeline. I just love it!

Friday, September 23

And this one (which I also stole). Adalyn loves the beach as much as her parents do, so she's always happy when they get to go.

I'd forgotten what a big deal Homecoming is in the Midwest. We're not too far from the high school and the parade went right by the house in the evening.

Saturday, September 24

Ivan and I got to spent the afternoon and evening with Simon and Betsy while Kyle and Tina went out to dinner. On our way to their house we went to South Bend and had lunch at the Fiddler's Hearth.

We always have so much fun with these two!

Monday, September 26

Received a book I'd ordered from amazon, but whoever packed it didn't seal the box. The book slid down and the spine stuck tight against the adhesive strip on the box. Could not get it off!

Since it's for a gift, I had to send it back and get another. Thankfully the second one arrived unscathed.

Wednesday, September 28

Another stolen photo; this one from Tina. Simon really loved bowling, and he got such a kick out of the mechanism that moved the balls back up the return lane!

Thursday, September 29

Couldn't resist sharing this studio shot Tina took of the kids. Photographer's kids know how to ham it up for the camera :)

Friday, September 30

Jon, Nat and Adalyn were all sick and after days of being cooped up, they were desperate to get out of the house. This is what going out to lunch when you're still feeling ill looks like :)

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So I "borrowed" almost a fourth of the photos in this post. I have seriously lost my photo-taking mojo. All year I've been hoping I'd get it back, but it just doesn't seem to be happening. This year has been such a roller-coaster with moving back to the U.S. and struggling physically and emotionally with that decision. But I'm choosing to show myself grace through this transition and just do the best I can. As I've said so often in the past, and will probably continue to say: Es lo que hay!

Memories of Bo

Oscar Fields, Jr.

November 27, 1956 - October 9, 2016

I've shared on Facebook that my cousin died on Sunday. His given name was Oscar and I guess some people did call him that, but to the family he was always Bimbo or Bo. I have so many wonderful memories of Bo! I was really impressed as a child that he could wiggle his ears! And I remember one summer he was on crutches, but boy was he fast! He was faster on his crutches than I was without them. Of course he was also almost three years older. (Or at least that's what I told myself, so I didn't feel quite so bad about him being faster than me.)

We spent ten years living in Michigan when I was a kid, but we went back to Kentucky every summer at least once. I loved staying with Aunt Lizzie and the cousins. Bo was closest to my age, and he put up with me and let me tag along on his adventures. He was the only one who could ever talk me into going out on the swinging bridge down by the country store. And stinker that he was, he'd wait until I was in the middle and then start jumping up and down and causing it to sway. You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you? But he must have pulled that stunt half a dozen times. Bo loved to get into mischief but he had a heart of pure gold and didn't have a mean bone in his body.

When we moved back to Kentucky just as I was starting high school, Bo was a senior and being his cousin made the transition a whole lot easier than it would have been otherwise. He was always there if I needed advice or help.

He was that way with everyone. He was the very definition of loyal. Everyone who knew him loved him. He believed that you took care of your family, did your job well, helped your neighbor and got involved in your community. His loss is a loss not only for his family but for all of Leslie County, where he was born, raised and lived his life. 

I haven't gotten to see the cousins very often, as we're spread far and wide. Our last trip to Kentucky was in 2011. We stayed with Ruth, Bo's older sister, but while we were there Bo and Char invited us over for a wonderful meal. Bo was never a big talker, but his steady presence made you feel welcome and comfortable. It was obvious he was happy and content with his life. He and Char have been married since 1978. They raised two wonderful, accomplished children.

Brice (on the right in the picture above) will be getting married next April. Erin and her husband, Tommy, have been married almost three years and just had an adorable daughter in June. The following photo of Bo with his granddaughter absolutely melts my heart.

 
Bo was the baby of the family and I know this is really hard on my cousins, too. As they gather to mourn their loss, my thoughts and prayers are with them. I wish I could be there, too, as they share their memories and grieve together.

That isn't possible, so I was thinking through what I could do... And realized that, after living on three continents, and two distinct regions within the U.S., I no longer have a clue what's appropriate protocol in this situation. No surprise that there are different funeral traditions around the world. Having lived "away' for my entire adult life, I simply could not remember what protocol was for back home. I missed the funeral for Aunt Lizzie, who died while we were in Argentina. I think the last funeral I went to in Kentucky was for my mom, way back in 1988.

We'll figure it out, but my mind (like the little silver ball in a pin ball machine) started bouncing all over the place, thinking about all that's involved in the death of a loved one. There's a lot of paperwork, so the nearest and dearest has to deal with that on top of everything else. Even for the most organized person -- and Char is extremely organized -- it's going to be tough. My prayers will continue for Char, as she deals with the "business" of Bo's death even while she grieves. For Erin and Brice as they face a new reality of life without their father. For Grace, Ruth, James and Bobbie Jean as they mourn the loss of their baby brother. A lot of people will miss Bo tremendously, but these are the folks who will feel the loss most deeply.