L.F.M.T.F.....

At this new law firm…

Halloween is a HUGE deal!

So left for me to find this Friday was the boardroom, which
was transformed for the Halloween festivities…

and guess who showed up for the party…

Lady Gaga...
And

a Tree...

And

a Cereal Killer...

And

a She Devil...

And

some very unexpected guests showed up...

all the way from Chile....

Yonni, the Chilean miner, with his wife AND mistress!!

If awards were given I would have most definitely voted for Yonni and his crew!!

creative thru and thru

Batten down the Hatches!!

I know it is the WINDY City...but that moniker was possibly not given to us for the actual wind, although it certainly fits with the "100 year event" that is ongoing outside!!

60 to 70 mph wind gusts, along with rain, are wreaking havoc in Chicago today.

Which, if I were still at the small law firm on the 8th floor of our vintage building, would not be too big of a deal.

But, I am not there.

I am here.

In a new building on Wacker Drive (wind gust alley) on the FORTY THIRD FLOOR!!

creaking and swaying i abhor

Left For Me to Find...

Friday.

City and Suburban Edition.

I did not know that squirrels LOVED tomatoes, until yesterday, while at home baking, I watched a squirrel come back again and again to munch on this one that had been ripening in the sunshine on the rail of my deck!!

what the heck

A cute scarecrow that my creative sister, Sandy, made for a contest at the retirement/rehab facility, where she works, lovingly caring for the folks there.

with them her life she does share

A reminder this week of God's beauty, while nonchalantly driving to the Jewel.

a much needed renewal

A bicyclist with a whimsical sense of humor, somebody that I would enjoy!!

a dinosaur toy

Stenciled graffiti that spoke to me this week.

encouraged me to seek

A decaying underpass support, its colors and textures caught my eye.

demolition soon then bye bye

“Mom, there is a MOUSE in our house!”

was the call I got from my daughter Saturday evening.

I was at my recently-departed-dear-friend Sue’s Irish Wake and had been celebrating her life “SUE STYLE” for many hours...

so at that point...

I found the whole “MOUSE” in our “HOUSE” pretty amusing.

I also thought it hilarious to try to take home the promotional Leinenkugel’s boat from the outside bar...

and when Keith arrived to drive me home, he didn’t find it quite as funny…

I digress.

Back to the mouse.

Yesterday, in the brightness of the day (WOW was it bright!) I realized how important it was that I did not have a MOUSE in my HOUSE.

Keith suggested "we" put out several traps.

“I don’t want to kill it!” I said.

“What do you want to do with it?” he asked.

Like I even had to say...

“I just want to catch it and then let it go outside.”

He told me about how the mouse would like to come back in again and again, so the best thing for my house would be to kill it.

“Okay, but I don’t want to see it all smooshed!”

Keith bought two traps, the kind where they climb inside to eat the “bait” and somehow get whacked and then you have to open up a trap door and drop the dead guy into the garbage.

“I AM NOT doing that.” I let him know.

This morning I was relieved to find both traps untouched.

“Good!!” I thought “Maybe I do not have a MOUSE in my HOUSE!”

Until about 10:51 a.m....

when Anna called to say...

“THERE IS A DEAD MOUSE IN THE TRAP! IT’S BUTT AND TAIL ARE STICKING OUT AND I AM NOT TOUCHING IT!”

That’s my girl.

Apple...

Tree.

Keith will be stopping by tonight for proper disposal of the butt and tail and everything else attached to it.

In the meantime, I am thinking I hope that poor mouse did not invite his friends in too...

otherwise more whack a doodle doo

Susan Spring Cotch

I so wanted to write about who the girl on the left in this picture was.

I needed to let everyone know about my fabulous friend of 22 plus years.

How we gathered every year around Christmas for a “Grinchette” dinner – a small group of women, would eat, share life’s stories, gifts and, as is tradition, watch “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”

How it was her that suggested we wear pajamas at those dinners, so that we could be “comfortable” during our eatathon.

She was the one, after also surviving cancer, who was my “go-to” friend when I allowed the dark to creep in, and she always responded:

“We have beat it! Now don’t you worry!”

I wanted everyone to know that she was...

hilariously witty

and

sarcastic beyond measure

and beautiful

and smart

and kind

and remarkable

and insanely FUN.

I wanted the world to know all about my friend, but after getting the call that she passed away this morning at the tender age of 49, I sat down to write, to somehow attempt to do her life justice,

but only one word kept spilling out,

which had nothing to do with her life,

but everything to do with her death…

UNACCEPTABLE.

Another thing to add to the list of what I cannot yet understand.

in heaven may she so softly land

“I haven’t eaten all day.”

I couldn’t tell.

My son Phillip was in Chicago today on a field trip with a group of fellow students from MIAD.

I was nice to see him.

We got to spend a little bit of time together eating a quick lunch before he had to meet back up with his group.

He left, of course, with some dot dot dot eat cookies a lot! cookies in his camera bag.

He says he is working hard at school and my prayer is that he is proud of what he has accomplished during his first month of many at MIAD.

I doubt he fully recognizes his gifts and talent(s) yet…

that will come with true self believing, maturity and personal success.

please continue to bless bless bless