(i.e., Jeromie)

a post-halloween plea

2005-11-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

I beg forgiveness for my lack of attention to this little site, which actually seems to have a small audience. I promise better in the future.

lots of stuff has happened in the three-month hiatus, but we'll start with a few pictures from a halloween party a couple of weeks back. it had been a loooong time since either of us had gotten dressed up ... but we had a party to go to and needed costumes. boy has the industry grown up since I was a kid. there are these stores now just filled with cheap (and not so cheap) costumes galore. yay for plastic and low-cost asian labor!

anyhow, J.W. was transformed into J.C., and K decided to be a geisha girl (mostly because it allowed her to wear a bathrobe to a party. we got dressed up and drove about 1.5 hours west into the prairie to the most over-the-top halloween house you've ever seen (sorry, no pictures, it was dark out). other costumes: napoleon dynamite, zombie, pimp, snow white, bigbadwolf/littleredridinghood (x2), nun, fallen angel, devil, etc., etc.

enjoy the photos... more stuff from around the house and around town soon.

2005-11-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

the uncoordinated couple ... although someone did tell me that both help people find happiness, that both are healers. we'll go with that.

2005-11-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

ask yourself ... WWJD?

2005-11-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

one of my disciples was there

Mexico Report: the guys go fishing

2005-07-29T15:30:00.001-07:00

on the morning before the wedding, the guys all split off and headed out to Puerto Aventuras to catch a boat ride with Captain Walter. the women stayed back at the hotel and exfoliated or something.

we headed out aboard the Tanya at about half past nine with visions of big fish in our eyes. Walter told us about the seven foot sailfish they caught the day before. well great, we thought. except we should catch one for each of us!

we were scheduled for a four hour trip. about an hour in the boat broke down. no, really. something got caught in the engine intake I think... in any case, the solution was for one of the shipmates to throw on his diving mask and mess around under the boat. 15 minutes later everything was cool again.

except that the fish had no interest. we got bait stolen a few times in the first three hours, but that was about it. it was a nice boat ride nonetheless... about half of us ended up catching a nap (or two).

then the action struck: all two and a half minutes of it. we were taking turns manning the lines, and Mike was up at the bat when we got our first big hit. a barracuda. or so we think. it fought, Mike reeled, we all shouted very helpful instructions such as "reel!" and "keep your tip up!" and "get him!", but despite all of our encouragement Mike couldn't keep up and the fish spit the bait. but wait, what's this?!? ... the fish came back for more, trying to finish off the bait. it was destiny after all, we thought. but not really, he ran away shortly after taking a few more shots and not getting hooked.

Mike took his razzing and then hoped that someone else would get a hit so that he wouldn't be the only one with a shot. but no luck. another uneventful hour passed and we were heading back into harbor. oh well... I think we all had a pretty good time out there, and it didn't set us all back too much. it's always nice to be out on a boat, and at least there were cold beverages.

2005-07-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

here's the crew on the "Tanya" prior to heading out. notice the optimism in our eyes...

2005-07-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

Curt took the first turn on watch, he was really glad about wearing that black shirt. the sun was brutal out there.

2005-07-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

we did almost catch some parasailers...

2005-07-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

the old man and the sea... Uncle Lauren strikes the waiting pose (just like the rest of us)

2005-07-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Adrian mans the seat whilst Curt checks the horizon

Back from Mexico: Hitched and Alive

2005-07-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

well, the wedding went off great, but all that anyone wanted to know once we got back was the story on Hurricane Emily, who rudely interrupted our post-wedding bliss. so here's a little walk through our experience at the Palladium Grand resort, as told by the pictures below.

Emily was scheduled to hit us square the whole week, and never for a second veered from that course. we got the eye... or "el ojo" as the locals say. although it was the main topic of conversation, and you could see the preparations going on around us, everyone at the resort carried on as usual pretty much through lunchtime on Sunday (everyone except the Apple reps, who insisted that it was no big deal up until Sunday morning, and then split without a trace until Monday evening).

late Sunday afternoon, everyone consolidated into a proscribed set of rooms, except those of us with rooms near the beach who were shuttled to conference rooms and worker housing closer to the front of the resort. that included Kathy and myself. between the wind and the poor ventilation, there wasn't much sleep that night.

when we got up in the morning, the place was really hit hard. really sad to see, especially for the hotel workers who had done so much to take care of us during the storm, even firing up a make-do lunch by around noon on Monday. but we were cut off -- no outside phones, television, internet, nothing. for all we knew, the entire Yucatan had been demolished. so we sat and waited. little did we know that damage was for the most part minor (at least comparatively) north of Playa del Carmen, and that flights in and out of Cancun had resumed by 9 a.m. monday morning! didn't find that out until we spent Monday night at the Cancun airport...

in any case, check out the photos, I will post some more stuff from throughout the week as I get some time. we have lots of family pictures, although we could use some photos from our wedding day (we were a little busy). anybody out there want to send me some?

2005-07-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

by Friday and Saturday, everybody except the Apple representatives were pretty much resigned to the fact that a damn big storm was coming. here we see the updates on Channel 2.

2005-07-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

they tied down things like fountains and chandaliers, here in the Colonial lobby.

2005-07-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

they taped up the glass windows in the restaurant area... here Ruth, Paulina and Matthias looking pensive on Sunday lunch.

2005-07-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

and they reinforced all of the glass doors. so much glass...

2005-07-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

on Sunday, the wind picked up but it really was kind of a long wait throughout the day. Kathy holds on for her life...

2005-07-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

when the red flag turned into a black flag, we headed inside.

2005-07-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

because our room was near the beach, we spent the night stuffed into some shelters set up in the conference areas near the Kantenah lobby.

2005-07-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

the lobbies at the resort were these very tall, open thatched-roof structures that we thought would lose all of their thatch during the storm.

2005-07-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

instead, most of the thatch held but the structure gave out. we were only about 30 yards away in our shelter and heard it happening, although we didn't know it at the time.

2005-07-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

the Colonial side lobby didn't fare much better. the fountain is on its side on the right side.

2005-07-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

this was our favorite bar... in the Kantenah side lobby.

2005-07-22T08:51:00.000-07:00

the pool was one of the best features of the resort, very big.

2005-07-22T08:50:00.001-07:00

they stuck the chairs in the pool... so they wouldn't blow away I guess?

2005-07-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

the pool lost a lot of water but gained a lot of debris. the "Gran Azul" bar and restaurant in the background made it through better than the lobbies...

2005-07-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

other than the lobbies, the trees and greenery around the resort were probably the hardest hit.

2005-07-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

a view toward the beach from our building

2005-07-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

many of the paths were sheltered by a thatch structure... also wiped away.

2005-07-22T08:28:00.001-07:00

the resort was connected by these beautiful paths through mangroves... quite a jungle setting.

2005-07-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

the foliage is probably going to take a while to recover.

2005-07-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

we were officially the last couple to get married at this little beachside gazebo (now demolished). kind of poignant, I guess.

2005-07-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

and about 150 yards away... the top of the wedding gazebo

wedding practice

2005-06-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

up to Michigan again last weekend, this time to see K's cousin Amanda get married to Drew. they beat us by three weeks, and thus will have a whole bunch to teach us once we finally get hitched. in July. it was a church wedding in Kentwood, followed by a country club reception in Cascade. see a few of the highlights below...

2005-06-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

the night honored these two well-dressed folk. congrats Drew and Amanda!

2005-06-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

Madison clownin' on her Aunt K

2005-06-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Britton, Michael and myself... shown here sampling the keg beer. This was a recurring scene.

2005-06-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

Norma poses with the father of the Bride (in a tux!)

2005-06-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

Madison really loved this flower pot. This time it was Aunt Nanner's turn to chase her down.

2005-06-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

K does the wiggle-shake with her Aunt Linda

2005-06-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

the whole damn lot of us.

lawn care

2005-06-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

spent the morning sweating in the yard ...

the front is pretty bad. K bought some weed-b-gon that attached to the hose back in April, I put it on and it nearly made our front-yard-b-gon. guess that's what happens when your front yard is mostly weeds (killed those dandelions though!). my big project has been incrementally patching the main spot in front of the house, which I thankfully decided to spare the weed-b-gon treatment. it's getting there, at this rate it should look great in another six years.

we've done a good job keeping all of the flowers alive in the back during this hot/dry streak, although the back yard has started getting a little brown. we need a border for the bed against the garage, you see the snapdragons, violas and phlox beneath the bush.

there's a nice photo below of what we call our "garbage pot" (a little bit o' everything) ...

2005-06-11T20:39:00.001-07:00

front lawn

2005-06-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

das autohaus

2005-06-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

garage bed

2005-06-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

pot o' everything

hot rainbows

2005-06-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

hotness happens in Berwyn. the whole week long. with little heat storms that drop like in Tampa. some of them leave behind rainbows.

Chubs win!

2005-05-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

saturday's game against the Rockies, who are a very, very poor squad (very poor). nice view of the game from the second row in the upper deck... we were peppered with foul balls. the one in the picture went down the third base line though, another tricky off-speed pitch from Glendon Rusch. Cubs win 5-1.

the foliage report

2005-05-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

can't stop the Hastas from growing... or the cat from eating the grass and then barfing it up. ugh.

shrouded

2005-05-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

it has been a foggy week here in Chicago

had our home inspection today

2005-02-25T16:57:00.000-08:00

so we thought we might take a few pictures. typical berwyn bungalow, take a tour below...

view from the street

2005-02-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

there it is in the afternoon sun... not sure who that person is (a ghost?)

and the sidewalk

2005-02-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

the berwyn bungalows all in a row

looking down the street

2005-02-25T16:44:00.000-08:00

no potholes. good.

stained glass windows

2005-02-25T16:42:00.001-08:00

a close-up. artsy.

the front room, part 1

2005-02-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

looking out to the street, facing south

under the surface

2005-02-25T16:41:00.000-08:00

the hardwood floor under the carpeting...

the front room, part 2

2005-02-25T16:40:00.000-08:00

fuzzy picture, but here's looking from the front to the back... kitchen in back, bedrooms on left, stairs to attic on right

the attic, part 1

2005-02-25T16:39:00.000-08:00

unfinished space facing front of the house

the attic, part 2

2005-02-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

one room is finished, an office maybe?

heading downstairs...

2005-02-25T16:35:00.000-08:00

kinda cave-ish

high ceilings in the basement

2005-02-25T16:34:00.001-08:00

and new (poorly installed) floor

the basement windows

2005-02-25T16:34:00.000-08:00

first thing you notice... basement is sunny?

laundry room in basement

2005-02-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

plus an exclusive glimpse of the water heater

kitchen floors

2005-02-25T16:32:00.000-08:00

yes, that's linoleum

looking from back to front

2005-02-25T16:31:00.000-08:00

the addition makes the kitchen pretty large, but it's a stupid spot for the stove

the fireplace in the back

2005-02-25T16:29:00.000-08:00

don't think we get to keep the soaring eagle poster though

party in the back

2005-02-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

room for a bbq... or a hot tub?