Anna and David are watching Maggie for us and these are the pics we got tonight. She’s not loved at all.
Maggie report!
Tag Archives: Chang-Yen
Merry Christmas 2021
The kids got us up at 7am on the dot—it would be earlier but we let them have their devices precisely so they let us sleep in until 7! I didn’t take any pics because I wanted to stay in the moment. The kids were both happy.
Then Tom and I enjoyed a morning dip in the hot tub!
Maggie enjoyed her spot on the couch.
Then we went to Anna and David’s for dinner and a movie.
The best part about Christmas Eve?
Friends, an amazing pizza (from leftover fish tacos that that boys gave me grief about but IT was freaking delicious!), and our first dip in the hot tub! Merry Christmas!
This pic makes the hot tub look soooo much bigger than it really is. It would be a stretch to have three adults in it at the same time—four would have everyone’s knees touching for sure!
And then we did the Saran wrap ball for the kids! We had about $60 worth of stuff in it!
And it was great fun…
Until two kids weren’t getting anything.
Don’t worry, they all ended up with stuff—and some trading was done. But it definitely wasn’t perfect.
And then I tried to get a Santa hat picture but Katie wasn’t really being cooperative. Oh well—it just makes memories!
How can I work with this?
Honey loves to do this when you’re sitting at the table—eating or not. She’s so dang cute.
David loving on Maggie
When friends discover messenger effects.
Owen & Honey
Owen was at a sleepover and Anna sent us this pic.
An early Christmas present!
So we got an early Christmas present for us…an Ooni pizza oven (we’d casually talked about it before but then after talking with Jim and Beth over Thanksgiving, our interest was renewed).
Tonight was the inaugural dinner with David and Anna (and kids) as guinea pigs. Initial setup was on the deck but torrential rain moved it to the garage.
And it was absolutely amazing! I foresee a lot of pizza in our future…
Maggie’s tickle spot!
She’s not spoiled or loved.
Anna and David are watching Maggie while we go to Michigan for Thanksgiving. Anna sent me this pic of the boys as soon as they got up.
And then at bedtime, in Anna and David’s bed.
YAFD
Yet Another Friend Dinner! TiVo friends, local friends, worlds colliding!
Halloween 2021
Katie was supposed to be an inflatable T-rex but she had a meltdown at the last minute (somehow the costume “felt different” from when she last tried it on that morning) so after a MUCH drama, she’s wearing dino PJs.
Owen is some videogame character I know nothing about (Edgar from Brawl Stars)! Good times.
The best thing? They’re old enough to go out on their own so we sent them off while we sat at a fire in the driveway! (They went out first by themselves while we were waiting for Anna and David to arrive and then went out with the boys later!)
Our costumes were “glampers” — courtesy of Anna and David’s RV (it was in our driveway from the weekend—the kids had a sleepover in it)!!
It was a gorgeous day but it was windy and chilly—but at least it wasn’t raining or snowing! The fire was nice but could have been even warmer!
Maggie sat cuddled in a blanket on my lap for a good two hours).
We also had two adult drinks (Apple bourbon smash and rum punch) to hand out to friends but I didn’t get a pic of that!
Anna’s kids were tired after an hour or so of trick or treating but our kids went out again! Unfortunately I didn’t get the annual pic of their candy haul!
Couch cuddle dogs!
Watching TV, Anna and I got all the dogs…
Jack O’Lantern World
AN INCREDIBLE WALK THROUGH THOUSANDS OF HAND CARVED JACK O’LANTERNS (Link)
Of course they weren’t all real pumpkins since the exhibit lasts all month…but they were still hand-carved. It was definitely neat but something we probably don’t need to do again!
Most of the pics are Anna’s because mine didn’t turn out as good.
Alton Brown Live!
Earlier this week we grabbed free Alton Brown Live tickets thanks to Vet Tix! Anna and David were actually going to Milwaukee as well to see a comedian so we met up for dinner first at Capital Grille! We hadn’t eaten there in years and it was better than I remembered!
48th Birthday Adventures
As you just saw, my birthday started with an amazing rainbow eye look to match my tie dye outfit. Plus the crown of course.
But the actual adventures actually started with heading with my bestie to pick up my other bestie and then head to Kenosha!
Trying to find catchers equipment for Owen and backup mitts for Evan at Play It Again Sports. What you do when it’s your birthday and wearing a crown and a mask.
Next birthday adventure stop: lunch at Frank’s Diner! It’s been two long years since we’ve been here and it was as delicious as we remembered!
Next? Crumbl—this will be birthday desserts for us with the kids instead of cake. They didn’t have my fave cornbread ones this week, though. And yes, we ate a few bites straight from the trunk!
I caught Anna sneaking some bites in the car!
Now birthday adventures are on a hiatus but I’m cuddling with my doggo so all is well.
Birthday adventures, mom style: taking Katie to physical therapy! Ha.
Birthday adventures, kid style: watching a movie!
The last birthday adventure! A margarita by the fire…with Tom and Anna and David. With an Ozzy Man Reviews topper. It was chilly so I had my sweatshirt on and they thought it looked like a queen’s cape!
All in all, a great 48th birthday!
Baseball friend vs friend
I’ll take a selfie with my boy whenever he lets me!
Owen was pitching and Evan was batting! I don’t even remember what the outcome was!
The girls are out walking!
While the boys are practicing baseball, the girls are out walking!
Anna’s birthday lunch!
Chinese Sauerkraut or Pickle Fish?
Soooo on our anniversary we stopped at an Asian grocery store and I splurged on like 10 different bags of awesome sounding potato chip flavors. Except… Some don’t have names on them—just photos.
We tried this nameless flavor tonight that we decided was some type of soup with broth and mushrooms and peppers…? They were definitely yummy but I really wanted to know the flavor. I reverse image searched and googled to no avail so finally went to friends on Facebook and learned that the translation must not be exact because it was listed as both Chinese Sauerkraut and Pickle Fish. But others translated the actual language on the bag and got salted fish and Laotian pickled cabbage fish flavor.
Then there was this exchange:
Lordy, taking a closer look—no, those definitely aren’t mushrooms!
But I liked them so all was well, whether they were salted fish or Chinese Sauerkraut!! I can’t wait to taste the other flavors!
Kayaking for almost all of us!
Anna wanted to take a guided kayak tour at Starved Rock campground and invited us. I know my limits and Katie’s limits (after her kayak meltdown at Grannie and Papa’s earlier this summer) so I passed…but Tom and Owen went. They had a great time! (And I had a good time taking Katie shopping!)
And lunch!
20th Anniversary Date Night
Heading out for our anniversary dinner at — you guessed it — Primo!
With Anna and David of course! We can’t imagine celebrating big moments without these guys. They are the family we picked!
Epic Paloozafest Blowout
Y’ALL, IT’S TIME TO PARTY!
We’ve all been cooped up with Covid and missed ALLLLLLLLLL the excuses to party…and you know we like to throw a house party…so we’re doing them all at once!
- Post-Covid Celebration
- Cascade Housewarming (7/2020)
- Tom’s USMC retirement (6/2021)
- BFF Anna-versary (8/2021)
- Our 20th Anniversary (8/2021)
- End-of-Summer/Back-to-School
Saturday morning and the Jello shots are here and ready thanks to Angela (she took the assignment when I ran out of time). But look at how well they fit in our garage fridge? It’s like it was meant to be.
About an hour before the party and I wasn’t even dressed yet. You think “Oh there’s only a little bit to do” but all the little things add up! Angela came over to help with a bunch of it and I’m eternally grateful. (Anna was picking up my kids from a class and getting the cupcakes.) It takes a village to throw a big party!!
Getting closer—getting the mixed drink dispensers ready! Peach Bellini, Rum Punch (empty), Vodka and lemonade, Beergarita, Bahama Mama.
David making his famous Trinidad rum punch! Yes that’s two full bottles of rum going in.
I forgot to take a pic of the food table but the dessert table was insane so I did takes a pic of that! We wouldn’t have needed to buy cupcakes at all! We had a few different kinds of cookies, two smoked cheesecakes, a German chocolate cake, a white cake, mini cupcakes, and Sam’s Club cupcakes!
Local-ish TiVo peeps!
We had to do at least one LipSense selfie!
The ribs were a hit. The pulled pork was amazing. And we have a ton of leftovers!
The only pics I snapped outside during the party!
The slide was a huge hit as expected. A few adults did go down towards the end of the night—butb it was actually cold by then so it didn’t last long.
David ended up making drinks for people at the bar…
And as we were saying goodbye to people, I discovered someone left a fern in our empty pot! (I had wanted to get succulents planted in it but never got to it with all the house stuff.) Turns out it was Ava, one of my gardener friends!
We just have great friends—from everyone who offered to help to the ones who loaned us things to the ones that jumped in to help before, during (putting away leftovers and doing the first round of kitchen clean up, and after (cleaning up the yard and house)… Thank you. We had a great time and I think everyone else did, too! Now to clean up some more and relax…
And now for the high ladder work!
We had a generic white ceiling fan in the living room but wanted something with a bit more pizzazz since we were redoing everything else…and with the high ceilings we also needed help! This is our electrician Jorge (he’s been doing jobs for us since we moved to Gurnee four years ago)!
We also got a new chandelier for the foyer…which also required Jorge.
So now I’ll take a minute and tell you some backstory: I found this chandelier on Facebook Marketplace back in May. It was expensive but was being offered at less than half price (I googled). But it was exactly what I wanted. Something I would have only dreamed of getting but never would because of the price.
So we discussed and decided yes. We offered $750 but she declined saying they paid full price. We still wanted it. But we had to borrow a truck and then we just couldn’t connect and then she was on vacation for six weeks… But we lucked out in that we were able to pick it up the day before Jorge was scheduled to come.
We went to pick it up and the lady was super nice. We chatted and told her we were military, this was my dream chandelier, etc. and she offered to buy the bulbs too thank us for our service! Wait, what? Seriously? We knew the bulbs were going to be a couple hundred dollars (we needed 36 and they are specialty bulbs) so we asked again to make sure. Yes, she was sure!
We chatted more and I ended up inviting her to our upcoming party, and she said she would order the bulbs ASAP and drop them off at the house!
We then shared a few texts picking out the bulbs we wanted (we had the same ones in both our carts) and then she even dropped off four bottles of Prosecco for our party! So the whole thing just went off perfectly.
Anyway. Back to the install.
Since it was so big and heavy, Tom and I even had to help!
Getting it to this point took two days and about four hours! It took a bunch of trips into the attic to reinforce the bracket and do the wiring and who knows what else.
And then it was time to install the lightbulbs!
And holy crap. It was just a little bright.
The light was obviously meant to be in just a bit bigger room. Or maybe a bigger non-enclosed space? Or less-bright lights? We all got a good laugh out of it regardless. And long story short, the bulbs are dimmable so we will eventually change one of the three switches to a dimmer.
But it’s perfect and I love it.
David is the Maggie whisperer!
Maggie really needed her nails cut and we asked David to do it because he seems to be able to do it really easily (better than we do). She sat patiently while he did then and then just sat and enjoyed the cuddle!
She just floomphs anywhere.
When the kids are away…
You can leave at the drop of a hat for dinner out with old friends and new friends an hour away to celebrate National Tequila Day! We drove to Aurora to meet at El Jefe.
Anna and Jami were meeting for the first time but they said it was like they already knew each other! (They met just by posting in my Facebook business group and then friended each other.)
The Al Pastor tacos (me) and octopus (Tom) were both delicious. We also loved the guac trio, the oysters, the flaming cheese, and the margaritas!
The only bad thing was that the music was SO STINKING LOUD that we couldn’t even hear anyone at the ttable—so we really only got to talk to the people directly next to us.
Katie loving on Pepper
In a surprise turn of events, Aiden was taken to the hospital yesterday with what turned out to be apendicitis—so we took Evan for the first night and then tonight Tom and Katie needed to go over to let the dogs out. Katie always loves on Pepper and tonight was no different.
Our first big drive in movie!
The community center was having a drive in movie so we thought that would be a nice change of pace. We went with David and Anna and watched Sandlot (really cute). Of course when we planned it, I didn’t know if just be getting out of the hospital… But I really just had to sit there so it was okay!
I’m not sure exactly what happened but I didn’t take a single picture. Anna only took one. (Whaaaaat is happening?)
Of course we did have drama… They handed out glow necklaces to everyone and Owen and Katie found a way to be annoyed with each other over them. Then Katie was excited to see a bunch of her friends there—but refused to go talk to any of them.
But the movie was cute and I think everyone enjoyed it!
Lake Forest, Day 7—I’m sprung!
I woke up assuming it was discharge day but I had to get the official word. While I waited I took another walk.
And then one of the docs came in to remove my pouch—which I’m just remembering I didn’t tell you about. So I had a little pouch with a line in my abdomen to drain the surgical site. I hadn’t even known I had it until like late into the day after surgery. Anyway, they emptied it a few times and I didn’t think much of it. But last night, one of the nurses came in…and wanted to show me how to drain it in case I went home with it.
WAIT—WHAAAAT?
I might be going home with this thing? Oh hell no. I wanted no part of that. But I diligently watched and tried to accept that I might actually have to do it. Ewwwww.
So back to the doctor coming in to remove it. I was ecstatic and told her she just made my day! I had no idea what was involved in removing it, so I was a little surprised when she just said she was going to pull it out. Yikes. Okay. She said it shouldn’t hurt but it would feel weird. Ooookay. And she was right. And it felt just like you’d imagine it would feel to pull 4″ of plastic tubing from your body. (Which, sidenote, I had no idea it was that long. I hadn’t even thought about it. I mean it makes sense but ewwww.) Then she just put a bandage on it and that was that. She also then gave me the good news that I would be going home for sure today!
12:23p — Anna was on call to come get me because Tom had an interview that morning—so here I am in her car! In real clothes! Feeling sore but in good spirits since I was going home!
Final thoughts? Man was that a crazy experience… I never would have predicted SIX days in the hospital for a gallbladder issue (what should be a very typical and easy thing) but apparently it was as old and cranky as I am! Let’s just hope I don’t need another visit for a very long time. I think nine years (to the date!) between visits is good!
Oh! One thing that surprised me was how much weight I gained from all the IV fluids! I had thought I’d lose weight since I didn’t eat for five of the six days…but they were literally pumping me fill of liquid all day every day. There happened to be a scale in my room and I remembered what I weighed upon admittance…and I had gained like 12 pounds! And all my clothes—even though they were stretchy—felt uncomfortably tight. Yuck. But I knew it would go away on its own (which it did within a week).
1:56p — Ahhhh. I have my dog on me for a nap. I’m good.
2:02p — Three nappers. (I think we let the kids binge on devices to leave us nap in peace.)
I stayed pretty chill the rest of the day and moved slowly, but the pain meds helped quite a bit. I was only allowed to go up the stairs once a day, so that was at bedtime… At which point I finally got to take a shower!
I actually asked Katie to come in the bathroom with me so she could be there in case anything happened (I mean who knows?). I had her help me remove some of the bandages, too, so hopefully she wouldn’t be super freaked out… And also so she could see this really was serious so she would hopefully not be a poop when asking her to do extra things to help out.
The shower felt good but I couldn’t really bend much so everything was slow and measured and I spent most of the time just standing there. I know Katie loves her Band-Aids so I had her get some ready for me so they were unwrapped and ready to go!
And I was stupid excited to do my full skincare regime!!! After a week without most of it, it felt like heaven!
