Impressive

I'm not 100% sure what my husband does, but this is pretty impressive for 1 Sunday morning. I do know there were at least 2 laptops involved as well.

Violet Vella

Chicka & Widney Woman

Thursday evening, I went to the Violet Hour, a decadent mixology lounge. Upon arrival, I walked through nondescript doors into a roughly dry-walled anteroom. The door man standing in front of lush 15-ft velvet drapes was an attractive black man who called me sweetheart and asked for proof of my over 21 status. Once obliging him, he called me sweetheart again, and opened a second set of resplendent drapes, ushering me into a wonderland of super high-backed chairs, 4-ft dimly lit chandeliers and dark ambiance.  There, I experienced divinely inspired mixes with my friends Chicka, Songbird, and Nordic Princess.  

Nordic Princess, Chicka, Oprah Girl, Engaged Girl

We gathered on Saturday for brunch at Vella, a busy, bustling, homestyle cooking establishment situated under the El tracks in Bucktown. It was great to spend time with Nordic Princess and Chicka while getting to know Oprah Girl and Engaged Girl. Apple Boy and Songbird made an appearance early on.

Food Association

Every time I see a pear, or eat one, I think of my father. About 10-11 years ago, I was (oh, maybe 18 years old) living with my parents in the home I grew up in. By this time, my dad had become an avid gardener. He had 4 vegetable gardens and several trees planted in our backyard. 

Each morning, Dad would bring a pear to my grandmother, my mother, and to me. They were so yummy!! By mid-afternoon, I would want another. Dad was a once-a-day kinda man, so I'd 'steal' one.

One evening, my sister, Optimus Prime, came over. She asked if I wanted to go get one of dad's pears. Naturally, I jumped at the idea. Out to the backyard we went. I went to the left side of the yard, to THE pear tree. Optimus Prime asked where I was going. She had gone to the right. What a delight to find Dad had not one pear tree, but two!! We were in pear heaven.

The other day, I went to the grocery store and purchased 4 peaches. One for each of us. I purchased this 1 pear for me. As a reminder of my father (he's alive and kicking in Canada). Above is a sliced pear. J sliced it. And ate it. He e-mailed me the picture of the pear so I would know he ate it. You aren't even suppose to slice a pear for true flavor. You should bite into it's soft goodness and savor the rich texture.

I'm the NEW Oprah!!!!!

Look at this e-mail I just received. I could be the new Oprah!! All I have to do is give away access to my bank account and wait for this person to drain my account of all funds and then, I'll be able to give a multi-million dollar donation to any church I choose!!  Oprah style, no doubt.  Of course, once I realize this is a criminal who has swindled me out of my life savings, quite possibly, my faith in God and my relationship with born again Christians will forever be ruined because I will have been ripped off by a 'born again Christian'. 

What a terrible way to make a living. What a terrible way to make Christians look bad.

From:

Susan Morgan

Subject:

Donation From Mrs Susan Morgan 

Date:

July 24, 2008 04:32:01 AM CDT

To:

su.morgan16@yahoo.co.th

 

 

From Mrs Susan Morgan

 

N�[38 Rue Des Martyrs Cocody
Abidjan,Cote d'Ivoire

 

ATTN
DEAREST ONE OF GOD
 
I am the above named person from Kuwait. I am married to Mr.Abram Morgan, who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004. We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.
 
Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $2. 5 Million (Two Million Five Hundred U.S. Dollars) in the bank here in Abidjan in suspense account.
 
Presently, the fund is still with the bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that i have serious sickness which is cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church or individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained.
 
The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence i know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the Lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace.
 
I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband’s relatives is around me always I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank here in Abidjan. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the Lord is my shepherd. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life.
 
Contact me on the above e-mail address for more information’s, any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church or individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hoping to receive your
reply.

 

Remain blessed in the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs susan morgan

Family Fun Night - Christmas in July

"Twas the Night Before Christmas...."

Read by Mommy

Polar Express DVD on TV

Harry Connick Jr Christmas CDs for music 

Dinosaurs at Christmas?!

Christmas Dinner - in July - TV Dinner!!

Turkey, Potatoes, Gravy, Stuffing, Corn, Cranberry

It's all there...and surprisingly good

Presents?

How about an edible Gift Cake!

Red and Poinsettias 

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Nothing says Christmas like a Christmas Tree

What must the neighbors be thinking?

The Red Team

Chicka and Songbird joined us

Apple Boy - Songbird's Dinosaur

Styling Chicka!

Mommy & Mini Me

Wait! Where's the eggnog? I tried making it last night and it FLOPPED. Instead, we had red tea to match our clothes! No really, it was raspberry iced tea.

This week's Family Fun Night is dedicated to Christmas (cute blonde, back row center). Below is most of my sisterhood from 'The Tek' in Tulsa. We celebrated each other's birthdays by decorating desks, group lunch, and a gift card!! Christmas was born on December 25th, but she celebrates her birthday on July 25th. Christmas, this blog is for you. 

Happy Birthday, My Sista!!

Mika Kappa Teka Sisters

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!!"

Now, please go check out Whittaker Woman who is the author and queen of all things related to Family Nights.

Adventures of the 3 M's - 07/22/08

Mommy, MotorMouth and Mini-Me were gone for 3 hours and 3 miles today.  Again, we mixed it up a little this week. 

MotorMouth ran through 'Lake Michigan'

Gotta grab a rock for the journey - every time

Someone was thirsty on their walk...

Of course, we went to the library. But afterwards, we did some different stuff!!

First, we went to a new old playground

New to us, but been there for years, and for older kids

Walking home, we saw a house under construction. MotorMouth wanted to know how they got all the dirt out of the basement. MotorMouth thought with a backhoe. We asked the foreman. MotorMouth was right!!

Ever wonder how the fire hydrant and yellow line get looking so fresh?

MBK told Daddy about this place in our neighborhood. It has lots of yummy treats!!

Spiderman

Dora the Explorer

Seemed like a good idea at the time...Not so much. Mommy cleaned the chocolate off Mini-Me and the stroller before Daddy got home.

MotorMouth noticed the building next to ours has glass now. He asked Mommy to take a picture.

And then everyone took a LONG nap.

My Mini-Me

Mini-Me loves to help. She has been helping me to load the dryer for almost a year. She loves to throw items in the trash, so that is what her primary chore is. 

Tonight, Mini-Me learned how to load bottled water into the fridge. She prefers to load 2 bottles at a time.

 

I did teach her how to 'face' the bottles.

Mini-Me accomplished this task so well, all I had to do was slide the bottles over and they were perfectly lined up. 

Next, I taught Mini-Me how to face the condiments.

She went to town!!

Even the butter was faced.

Writing Workshop - Session 2, Part 1

book written by my instructor

Tonight was the first night of the second half of my writing workshop. Each part was broken into two 4-wk sessions. The cast of characters in this second 4-wk session does not appear to be as diverse as the first group. It's a pretty tame bunch. *-sigh-* I was up for some excitement through diversity. But the ladies seem to be great - and lots of beginner writers, yeah!!!!!!!

Now, I must tell you, I have begun reading one of my instructor's books. VERY interesting read. She's quite good. Rest assured, I am sitting at the feet of a gifted writer. She makes me want to quit writing. Not really. Well, yes, maybe. I'm sure by the time I get through her next book, which is on my coffee table, I won't even want to attend workshop. Not really. Well, no, definitely, I'll attend.

Last session, you might recall, I submitted a short story for critique. Tonight, one of our exercises was to take 2 characters from an earlier piece of work, and set them in a different time period, arguing - having conflict of some sort. I took my 2 main characters and set them about 5 years into the future. It was enjoyable for me. I think I might work to develop this body of work into a book. Not sure that I would ever seek to have it published, but the writing of it will be cathartic and educational for me. 

Looking forward to next week's workshop. 

Home Food

What is 'home food' for you? Is it your mother's meatloaf? Your grandmother's blueberry topper? What food says 'home' to you?

For me, it is food from Trinidad. Trinidad is an island, next to Venezuela, with an eclectic mix of people and foods. Some of our 'home food' can be found in Chinatown, some in East Indian restaurants, others in the Spanish/Mexican part of town. Here and there, you might get lucky and find a roti shop that sells some of the beverages of the 'Islands'.  It is extremely hard to find a place that has it all.

I've never found a restaurant that serves food that tastes like my what granny made, or what I'd get at my aunt's house, or what my mom used to cook - before they opened a Thai restaurant and she stopped cooking. Please don't ask why MY family would open a Thai restaurant. But suffice it to say, J and I did find Baisi Thai in 900 N Michigan Ave that serves Thai food like my family's Thai fusion dishes. 

Well, we have found it!! Cafe Trinidad on 75th St in Chicago. They serve authentic Trinidadian dishes that you can only get from someone's kitchen - someone in my family's kitchen. We ate there TWICE last week. I swear, I could order everything on the menu.

Curried Roti

Lying and Lists

The above image has nothing to do with my blog entry. I saw this on the way to Costco this morning and thought the guy in the SUV had parked too close to the Volkswagen. 

In my Mom's Group, we are going through a book called, "The bathtub is empty, why am I drowning?" (or something like that) It's for mom's. It's a great Bible study book. Love it. 

About 5-6 weeks or so ago, while going through one of the chapters, I mentioned how I am amazed at how often I lie to my children. I have no problem telling adults the truth. D called me out on it. I didn't have any specific examples at that second. 

The following week, I told D I lie to Motor Mouth when he asks if we are going to get him something for his birthday or Christmas. Usually, the answer is 'yes', because I know he will forget about it before the gift-giving occasion occurs. The lie is designed to avoid inappropriate behavior in the store. Tell him yes and move on. Tell him no and hear him whine or cry.

D said I should tell Motor Mouth to make a list and put it on the list. Fine. I've been telling him to put it on a list. Today, at least a month later, and Motor Mouth has finally asked ME to write a list of things he wants. 

Motor Mouth was kind of enough to add Mini Me's wants as well. Mini Me did chime in on most of these things. It seems Motor Mouth has been keeping a list in his head. (I did not edit. This is what they said)

Family Friday - 07/18/08

We packed the kiddos up and headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art. This is the only picture I could take in the lobby of the museum - no photographs allowed, you know.

Motor Mouth loved the museum. When Motor Mouth asked about a particularly large exhibit, I explained he was to think about the piece and to decide for himself what it means. He did such a great job!! I'm so proud of my little thinker.

We lunched at Wow Bao in Water Tower Place

No cupcakes for Mommy today - they were all out. Sacrilege!

Couldn't be on Michigan Ave without visiting the Apple Store

The rule book says the car tire should be 18 inches from the curb. I think they meant in the OTHER direction.

We got caught in the rain!

There was traffic on the way home, but what a nice view of the city!

We returned home and the kiddos had a nap. I was supposed to nap, but well, I'm just not that obedient...yet. J returned a couple of hours later with a pizza and movie for the kids.

We watched 'Night at the Museum' with the kiddos.

Then we watched 'My Best Friend's Wedding' together - it was filmed and based in Chicago, you know.