The Sandwich Life

The BATHROOM and Our Beloved Todd Benting

The bathroom is pretty much done.  We're still waiting for the tin ceiling on backorder and we're switching out the closet doors....but basically....it's pretty much done.....and might I say....UTTERLY GORGEOUS!!!

The last step was getting the washer and dryer installed.  I don't think it went quite as smoothly as Todd had hoped and as he was battling with it and Friday evening was coming on I stopped to say, "you know Todd...it's fine if this doesn't get done today."  He looked up at me and said, "Oh...IT'S getting done today."  I believe it had become personal....

We stood and admired it once he'd finished up....and even got Todd to partake of a cheap beer....  Look at my gorgeous guys:

I love it SO much....and Todd as well.  The funny thing is that usually if we have someone doing some work in our house I never relax and always feel like I should look as though I'm doing something productive and maybe even the house should be clean....  Somehow with Todd it was no time before I was leaving my bras on the floor everywhere as I am wont to do and lying on the couch commenting on how incredibly comfortable it was as I lay there while poor Todd just ignored the disaster, chatted to the boys and kept on working.  If anyone needs a recommendation for a WONDERFUL (and charming and affordable) contractor near C-U just let me know.  But don't keep him TOO busy....we might need him back....

 

Linen Jackets and Enemies

Driving to Bloomington.

We got there and found a little perch right by the corner of the stage....  Missed the opening act...whoops.

I've seen Justin Townes Earle twice.  The first time I'd never heard anything by him and he totally blew me away....as he did the following time I saw him.  Last night?  Not so much.  Just kind of an off-kilter low energy show.  The trio (no drums last night) just didn't seem to be connecting.  The place was pleasantly crowded and the audience enthusiastic....and where, oh where did all those plaid wearing tall men with facial hair COME from?  It was all...perfectly pleasant.  Too bad as he is certainly capable of making everyone's hair stand on end.....but as I said to Ernie this morning about someone else in our life, "I guess we're all our own worst enemies."  

The man DOES know how to wear a linen jacket though.  At least, I'm guessing it was linen....  

We had a lovely time though and got to drive our friend Sue home so having time to talk with her was a treat. We hadn't eaten dinner before the show so as we got back to Champaign I had my heart set on a gyros....something we only give in and get after a late evening of music and a couple of drinks....but alas they were closed.  I threw together some weird hash made of potatoes and eggs and cheese and it was damned good and finished the night off tastily.  A lovely evening and I am SO thankful the weekend is here! I need a break from University policies and procedures....

Tired Eyes and Mood Rings of Color

Yesterday was just one of those days.  Minor irritations piling on minor irritations...work, trying to leave work, evening...  They WERE minor irritations however so I can't really complain.....but GEESH.  Today started with frantic searching for items that Leo could take with him for his speech class since we realized the printer was out of ink after I got up 20 minutes late.

However....  Everyone seems to be healthy, it is Thursday and I am going to see Justin Townes Earle tonight.

YES.

Last night I got home feeling frazzled.  My eyes were watery from allergies and tired from being on the computer all day.  I greeted the boys, said hello to Leo's friend who was hanging out with him.  I wandered into the bathroom to admire it and stood there kind of lost in end of the day tiredness.  Ernie walked into the bathroom and stood in the little nook where the stacked washer and dryer are going.  He looked at me seriously and then he started pivoting and making washer sounds.  I laughed and laughed.  I love him so.

He said he'd get me a glass of wine so I wandered outside and sat in the yard.  He came out, we talked a minute and then he said, "come see something."  I obediently followed and as we went upstairs I got excited because I knew he'd said he was going to get the bedroom ready to be painted.  I walked in and he'd ALREADY PAINTED IT!  I was so overwhelmed with happiness!

And Peggy Matusiak Johnson...you were right!  Silver Fox by Benjamin Moore.  It's like a mood ring of a color....kind of changes with the light and the colors by it....from grey to green to taupe back to grey.....it's LOVELY.

The Very Best Part of a Good Day

Good day yesterday.  Kind of a long day for some reason, but good.  At least it felt long---I hadn't slept very well the night before.  I worked and then Ernie picked me up and we stopped by to visit some dear friends that we haven't seen in WAY too long.  He's just started chemo and so we talked about cancer and the goal that is 'living with cancer' and 'managing cancer.'  That's not how we usually think of cancer---we usually think of fighting cancer, beating cancer...or else we think of dying from cancer. Yes, it would nice if it would just be gone...but that's not always reality so instead we live with it.  Then we talked about kids losing teeth and politics and family and how long we've known each other.  It was wonderful.  I love them dearly.  We got home and Owen still had a few questions left on his homework.  May I just say that Owen and I and homework are not a good combination?  I think I'm helpfully explaining and he immediately gets frenzied that he's not understanding it and thus doesn't listen to a thing I'm saying and then I get frustrated and.......  Ay yi yi....  Fed him a quick dinner and then listened to him talk through an episode of the Good Wife which we were trying to watch.  Ernie put Owen to bed as I fussed with making a late dinner for us.  After Ernie came down I heard some suspicious thumping from upstairs and Ernie said, "oh yeah, Owen wanted you to come up and kiss him good night."  I trudged upstairs to find a very sleepy Owen trying to read a book that was drooping from his hands.  I set it down for him and he said, in a voice slow with sleepiness, "will you tell me something Mom?"  I asked him what he wanted to hear and he said he didn't know.  So I told him about when he was born.  He likes to hear that story.  I told him that they lifted him out of me and held him up so I could see him and his blonde hair was all wet from being inside me and it looked like little blonde dreadlocks...that he looked like a little baby surf punk.  I told him that while they were sewing me up that they got him all cleaned up and put a little hat on him and wrapped him up tight like a little eggroll.  By that time they'd rolled me back into my room and they brought him, all bundled up and laid him right next to me.  He smelled delicious, like a little baked good.  Owen interrupted me to say drowsily, " a baked good is like a muffin, right?"  I told him yes and then I told him that when I looked down at him, my little eggroll bundle lying next to me, that all I could think was, "there's something special about Owen, there's something special about Owen."  He smiled sleepily with closed eyes and said, "I love you Mom."  I kissed his hand that lay near the edge of his bunk bed, told him I loved him too and went downstairs.  

It was a good day, but I gotta say I think that was the very best part.

 

a younger me with no grey hair....and my little baked good

 

Monday Report

Even though I didn't have a spring break (o.k....I left work an hour early one day) I still hate to have it over. Back to busy mornings, checking on homework and nagging them to get to bed ontime.  And having the weather suddenly change, from warm and sunny to cool and almost seasonal, just reinforces it the feeling of back to reality....

It was a pretty lazy weekend but I say that a lot, don't I?  Yesterday I spend a chunk of the morning making lists, uploading pictures, updating software....little busy computery things that always make me feel good...and seem to be Sunday morning tasks for me.  Then we did some measuring of the patio and figured out what we will need in terms of lumber for the raised beds.  I made the boys clear off all the dead morning glory vines along our ramshackle fence.  I didn't boss them around too much though as they kept keening about it being the last day of spring break.  Ernie and Owen shot baskets for awhile and Owen obsessed over his loose tooth.  According to him it's been loose almost an entire YEAR!  He wouldn't let me just pull the damn thing....he tried eating an apple with it...didn't help....Ernie even took him to the store and let him buy some of his beloved Laffy Taffy...it got it a bit looser but still no go.  In the afternoon Ernie and I sat in our yard and read and crossword puzzled respectively. Finally dragged ourselves inside and got dinner and boys into the shower, etc.

Oh, and you'll be happy to know that Toothwatch 2012 is now over.  Last night in the middle of the night Owen showed up by our bed, proudly holding a tooth.  

Busy week ahead....a work thing Wednesday evening and Justin Townes Earle at the Castle on Thursday....the next few weeks are going to be very busy.  It's all good but I am a homebody at heart so I always have to steel myself for these periods of time.  For now I'm off to see how few cherry blossoms are left at work....

O.k.  Onward to the week.....

Just a Couple of Random Notes....

Ohhhh...the weeds, the weeds, the weeds.....  We've been making gardening/yard plans.  We need to buy a boatload of topsoil and compost....and we're planning to tear up some of the patio we don't use and put 4 small raised beds in there....that's where the tomatoes and peppers will go....lots of sun.

Some of our strawberries already have teeny, tiny little baby strawberries on them!

And on an inside note....our bathroom is looking great!!!

Random Notes from the Sandwich Life

1.  My husband makes the best scrambled eggs in the world.  I don't really like them made by anyone else.  When my sister Judi was dying and didn't want to eat much anymore, one of the few things she loved was Ernie's scrambled eggs.  If he wasn't home I would offer to make them but she would just shake her head and tell me "thanks, but I only want Ernie's."  I had scrambled eggs for breakfast in case you couldn't tell.

2.  Yesterday, after our traditional Friday Fries and Peanuts lunch, Ernie and I just drove for awhile.  It felt so good.  We took some pictures but then we noticed the skies toward Champaign looking threatening so we scurried home to be with our babies.

3.  Later, when the rain hit Ernie ran upstairs to close windows.  By the time I made my way into the kitchen our contractor/friend Todd was closing the windows already.  Damn, I like having two husbands.

4.  Oh, oh, oh.....speaking of Todd....he told me the most wonderful story.  When his nephew was around 4 years old he had him come over and gave him grass seed to plant.  He told him it was sucker seed and would grow suckers.  So his nephew obediently planted the seed and carefully watered it.  He came back on Easter and Todd had stuck suckers in the ground.  He said his nephew's face was awestruck.  Is that WONDERFUL?  I love Todd, as does the rest of the family.  Owen has somehow sucked him into some project to do with Ezio. Todd is a good man.

5.  Yet another reason I love my husband:  he's on a Johnny Thunders kick.  When it's just us in the car he puts on Born to Lose and we drive down the road shouting "I said HIT IT."  It makes one feel remarkably good.

6.  So no Peter Case in Milwaukee tonight.  I tried to figure out how to make it work but even with V'ron's kind offer to put us up it just didn't fit in with the weekend.  Owen is home from his sleepover and reportedly didn't sleep until 4:15.  Hmmmm.  God knows he's exhausted.  As it turns out Paul Collins was kicked off the tour for wretched behavior and so it wouldn't have been the reunion we'd hoped for.  However, it would have meant all the more Plimsouls songs which would have been good.  Sigh.  It just wasn't in the cards.  Next time Peter....next time.

7.  No weekend plans....for awhile I thought about painting our bedroom but somehow I don't see that happening....  We need to do some garden planning....eh, we'll see.  Tonight is family movie night.  Last night, in the delicious silence that happens when Owen is out of the house, Leo and Ernie and I watched a movie together.  We tried to watch some tornado movie on Netflix but it kept stopping so we tried a movie about lightning.  Honest to God....I think this was the worst movie I've ever seen....Roadhouse notwithstanding.....

Songs, Good Hair and the Love-It-Fiercely Gene

Owen is on a big Fountains of Wayne kick.  Leo, of course, remains on his Pendulum kick.  He can even tell you how many times in a row he has listened to one of their live albums.  I forget how many but I am proud that he has inherited from me the if-I-love-it-then-I-love-it-FIERCELY-and-FOREVER gene.  That's my boy.

  

Owen played Someone To Love by Fountains of Wayne so many times last night that it is now stuck in my head....  Aside question:  why does EMI think that making the ads and the frame and all of it so ugly will help sell ANYTHING?  If you expand it to full screen you can get rid of some of the ugliness.  And don't be fooled by the red 'play it now' button because you will find yourself watching Katy Perry.

 

The uh-uh-uh-uh in the chorus made me think of this song though:

 

When I was 18 years old, damn cute, and with a great haircut, Greg Kihn's bass player told me he loved my hair.  Sometimes I wish I could go back and take advantage of what I didn't know I had.  Eh, I wouldn't be me then though...and then Leo and Owen wouldn't exist.  What a horrible world it would be without Leo and Owen.  My sweet peas.  

 

Fleeting

So despite the fact that Rick Winkel withdrew from the Circuit Court Clerk race quite some time ago...he still won.  And Barb Wysocki won over Lori Hansen by 16 freaking votes.  How many people vote solely by familiarity with a name? Should we require a quick IQ test and a quiz on the candidates before people vote?  I support  you voting for anyone you believe in....I truly do....but voting without knowledge...just going 'oh hey, I've heard that name before....'.  Geesh.  Maybe we should skip this whole 'get out the vote' thing.

Sigh.

Onward.

The cherry blossoms are blooming at Japan House and it is incredible.  What an incredible gift these fleeting blossoms are. Fifty cherry trees were donated in 2008---this is the most incredibly display yet....

Our ornamental grasses at home are already up...amazing.  It's going to be an interesting year.....

 

Mr. Laughs, David Olney, and the Primary!

Owen cooked dinner for Ernie and me last night.  Grilled smoked paprika chicken with kale and chickpeas.  He needed a bit of advice on the kale and chickpeas but handled it masterfully and of course his grilling skills are already without question.  He set the table, even got out flint glass tumblers for our water and filled the Etched Dakota water pitcher he gave me with ice water for our refreshment.  He waited on us formally.  When he wasn't acting as our waiter he would charge in and join us (Leo chose not to join us which was fine...we're in easy spring break mode) in his Mr. Laughs persona.  He invented Mr. Laughs when he was very little and we don't see him all that much anymore.  Mr. Laughs is basically Owen channeling some old Borscht Belt comedian.  He swept in last night saying, "sorry I'm late but I had to walk.  What is it with the GAS prices?" and then he went into some joke I'm afraid I don't recall.  When he thought we might  need a waiter he would depart as Mr. Laughs saying he had to go to the restroom or go lock his car (although we pointed out he'd walked) and disappear into the kitchen only to reappear as his formal waiter.  At one point Mr. Laughs said, "have you looked this place up online?  One guy named Owen does EVERYTHING."  

He asked us if we wanted to retire to the television room for our dessert.  We acquiesced and were then served ice cream and brownies.  Later he delivered the check to Ernie.  It was 25 cents plus tip.  I told Ernie to make sure to tip well---the food was fantastic and the service impeccable....

Lest you think our whole night was idyllic rest assured that by the end of the night 3 family members all got pissed at each other...the lucky one was already asleep.  That dinner makes up for a plethora of sins however. Looking at Ernie's little smile as he watched Owen work madly.....watching Owen fly around the kitchen only to calmly glide into the diningroom and call me ma'am.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news....GO VOTE!  It's the primary....AND David Olney's new mini-album THE STONE is released today.  I just ordered mine and I suggest you do the same.  It's a measly $10 folks....for David's take on the greatest story ever told....