Thanksgiving Day (later)

Sorry it's taken so long to update, fam and friends. It was an eventful visit, a long trip back, and a busy week back home. But, here goes...

Later in the day, Neely and Jamie took a minute to sit for a photo in front of their fireplace, then Neely got serious about dinner. She did a great job with the turkey, stuffing and potatoes, Jamie made fresh cranberry sauce, Lori made her holiday mac & cheese, I made a turnip greens casserole, and Lori and I had a gravy-off. She made hers from scratch, while I took mine from jars, so it wasn't a fair fight.

The table was beautiful, the spread was extensive, and we all had more than plenty. Later, we got a little silly, then played ping-pong and darts in the basement. It was a great day, and was just the first day of our stay in Colorado.

More to come.

Thanksgiving Day (early)

Today, Thanksgiving Day, we got up and went for a walk up into the hills near their house--well, actually, I got a little winded right in the beginning, so Jamie drove me up and then we got out and walked around.

Now were hanging out watching Neely cook, snacking and getting ready for the big meal deal this evening.

Love to all--we miss you.

More to come...

Road Trip!

We hit the road Tuesday afternoon, headed for Peoria where we picked Sam up at Bradley, then headed north to Davenport and on to Des Moines with Sam driving into the night. We stopped at a Holiday Inn for the night.

We got up at 7 the next morning, had a hot breakfast in the hotel restaurant, then hit I-80. A mere six 90-minute shifts we arrived in Golden at Neely and Jamie's house.

It's Done!

The remake of Sam's old bedroom is finally finished! It took me about three months to do, but we were able to move furniture in yesterday. And now it has a new name that you can guess from the pictures--Harley's room.

Tuesday afternoon we leave for Neely and Jamie's place in Golden, Colorado--stopping in Peoria first to pick Sam up. We'll spend a night in a hotel (probably in Iowa) that night, then get up and on the road early Wednesday morning. We hope to be sipping drinks by early evening, MST.

We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Go Mizzou!

Million Dollar Quartet

Forgive us, readers, for we have sinned. It has been 16 days since our last post.

I think we were a little exhausted by election season, and we needed a little respite before the craziness of the holidays cranks up. But cranking up it is, beginning right now!

Tonight, the Empty Nesters really did Rock!

We went up to see this brand new musical which had gotten rave reviews and is moving off-Broadway when it closes in Chicago. Lori took the train in from work, I took it up from IIT, we met in the Loop, took the Brown Line up to Lincoln Park and were picked up at the station by Marlis and Glenn who had driven in. At the Apollo Theater, we parked under the L, then walked about 100 feet NW to Greg's Hoagie Hut--that's him, the owner and chief cook, right there. Glenn and I had his own creation, the Chicago Cheese Steak Hoagie, and it was truly a fine and unique sandwich, let me tell you. We walked back to the theater after dinner, and had a couple drinks before the show.

And what a show! It centered around the night in December of 1956 that Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley all showed up at Sun Studio in Memphis and had a jam session. The actors/musicians were simply incredible. The storyline was compelling--Sam Phillips' was its central character--and the song selection was, as you might expect, a mix of the early hits by each of the four artists plus some fun covers of songs by their contemporaries.

If any of you ever get a chance to see it, you should go. Too bad you won't get the sandwich, too.

Election Day/Night--We Win!

November 4th dawned bright and sunny, much like the future of our country. The Fall colors were still spectacular on our block and all around Oak Park. Lori voted at 6:00 a.m. I voted at about 10:00 a.m. IIT shut down at 3:00 p.m., due to the big Obama Grant Park to-do (Mayor Daley asked us to close the school early), so I got home at 4:00. Lori got home a little later, and talked with Neely for awhile on the phone about the election.

Marlis and Glenn joined us for a light supper of subs and veggies and then it was on to watching the election returns. Sometimes the news channels didn't update fast enough for Lori, so she was online a fair amount of time, getting her info on.

Lastly, here's a shot of today's Chicago Tribune front page. The Trib actually endorsed Obama this time--the first time they have ever endorsed a Democrat for President.

I was at this event, but nobody took any pictures of me.

Da Bulls

Went to the Bulls game with Glenn and Marlis Saturday night--all of us were trying to distract ourselves from the election. They picked us up at 5:30, 'cause Glenn wanted to get there in time to see the teams warm up--boy did we. The game wasn't scheduled to start until 7:30--they didn't even open the United Center until 6:00. So we sat in the car in the parking lot for a little while to stay warm--I made a short video while we were there just to entertain myself.

Once inside, we got something to eat. Glenn and Marlis had hotdogs, I had pizza, and Lori had an Itialian Beef sandwich, which I mistakenly ordered with sweet peppers, NOT hot peppers. The picture shows the sweet peppers, but not the ire my darlin' expressed over my not knowing after 20 years of marriage that she would want the hot peppers. Sheesh.

The game was fun, after the Bulls got going. They must have shot 10% or less from the floor in the 1st half, but their defense kept them in the game. The offense got going in the 2nd half, and they won 96-86 over Memphis.