Leaving Today!

I leave this afternoon for Texas!!  Mimi's little bundle of joy should be arriving in a few days and Mimi and I have lots of stuff planned for before he gets here!  I will continue to post on facebook and here on my blog, but I'll also be updating her blog over the next few weeks so she can concentrate on the new baby!!  Keep checking back...I will take lots of pictures! 

The Willis Tower (a.k.a. The Sears Tower)

Shawn has a few things on a list that he wants to do in Chicago...now that we're moving in a couple of months we decided we better start doing those things.  One of those things was to go up to the observation deck in the Sears Tower (which is now known as the Willis Tower).  Thursday we decided to head downtown for the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day!  We walked around looking up at all the tall buildings like total tourists!  The observation deck in on the 103rd floor of the building, but you start 2 floors below the ground floor, so the elevator ride was really up 105 floors in 60 seconds!  My ears were crazy popping!  The have a relatively new thing in the observation deck with full glass boxes that extend from the building so you are able to look straight down below your feet at the river and buildings below.

Shawn got a video of me when I was first walking out on the ledge...it is a pretty strange feeling to stand on a piece of glass when you know you're 103 stories above the ground!  I commented that Mimi would be having a heart attack, which is the truth! There were a bunch of small kids there with a school trip and they weren't afraid at all!  They were jumping on the glass and laying on it.  Kids aren't afraid of anything these days! 

After we left the Willis Tower, we walked a bit to find a Lou Malnati's Pizzaria.  Our favorite pizza in Chicago!  We are both going to miss Lou's, but luckily you can have froze Lou's shipped anywhere in the country.  I don't think it's exactly the same, but we'll just have to make sure we eat Lou's everytime we come to visit Dad.  So Dad, at least you know we'll be coming to visit you ;)

The Stanley Cup Finals!!

Lets Go Hawks!!

For those of you not following the Stanley Cup Playoffs (which is crazy!), here is an update.  The Blackhawks swept the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals and are going to play in the finals for the Stanley Cup!!  Woohoo!  The Eastern Conference champs are the Philly Flyers (we can take 'em!).  Game 1 will be this Saturday on NBC at 7pm CST/8pm EST.  Even if you've never watched a hockey game before you should.  They are awesome!   Much better live, but right now the tickets are obviously way too expensive here in Chicago :)

Game 2 is Monday

Game 3 is Wednesday

Game 4 is Friday

Hopefully no other games will be needed because I feel another sweep coming on!  I will be leaving on Sunday to go to Texas to help Mimi with new Baby Logan who should be arriving either Tuesday or Wednesday...which means I will have to find some sort of tricky way to watch the games :)  I will find a way to make it happen! 

On a side note (although it is a really important side note) Mimi had an ultrasound yesterday and Logan looks good, but big!  She is going to the doctor again today and will likely be scheduling a C/S for next week!  Yay!

Visiting Andrew

We have been slacking in our reports of how Andrew is going lately, but I think of that as a good thing!  Nothing to report is good, right?  It means there are no problems :)  Well, finally we got to see for ourselves.  Andrew has been back in Indiana with his family since early April and we finally all had time to go visit.  His family have a lake house north of Ft. Wayne that we've all been to before, so we went to Indy to see Theresa first on Friday, then headed to the lake for Saturday & Sunday. 

What a great weekend! As you can see, Shawn had fun :)

Andrew is doing SO WELL!!  I can't even describe what a great feeling it was to hang around with him.  It felt almost like old times.  You can definitely tell he's still there, he just has a really hard time with communication.  He is talking more though and if you give him time he can usually say what  he wants to say.  Typically he talks in single word statements, but he is able to get across what he wants or needs.  He still loves to watch movies (shocker!) and is still a neat freak :)  He is able to walk much better than when we saw him last at the end of February, but he still has no feeling on his right side.  The facial droop he was experiencing on the right side of his face is gone, and when he smiles now it is with his whole face!  It's great to see!  He has a brace he can wear around his calf and ankle to support his foot when he walks and it helps him be almost completely independent when he walks.  He occiasionally needs a little help, but if he can do it himself he wants to.  He is trying very hard to be as independent as possible.  I could go on and on, but I'll just post a few pictures and update again soon!

Andrew & Theresa

Shawn & Andrew

Andrew and I

Happy Birthday Leif

Today would have been Leif's 30th birthday.  It has been about a year and half since his life was ended so tragically, and not a day goes by that I don't miss my friend.  I am thinking about him today and remembering the many years we spent together.

Our first date - the winter dance our senior year of high school.  We look so young!

The last picture we took together when I was visiting him in Florida a few years back.  We had a great time that week!  I have so many memories...

Insane Drivers

Shawn and I had an interesting drive home from Muncie on Sunday evening.  It was really windy all the way up 65 toward Chicago and the semi's were all over the road.  There was one that was driving quite erratically...but we just waited until we had a clear spot in front of it and then sped up and passed him really quickly.  The worst driver along the way was once we hit the Toll Road and were heading toward the Skyway bridge.  There is a lot of construction along the road, but there was a minivan that was swerving across the center line repeatedly...then the guy started driving on the center line!  It was crazy!  We were trying to get around/pass this crazy car for over 4 miles while he drove like he was drunk!  I almost had Shawn call 911 to report drunk driving.  Makes you wonder about people!  We made it home though, safe and sound and then back to work.

All Done

What a busy weekend already!  We finished the rummage sale...thank goodness!  So much work.  We did pretty well, but we were a bit disorganized so I think we're going to do another weekend right before we move.  At that point we'll know better what exactly we'll have room for in our apartment in Texas and it will be easier to get rid of more stuff.  Plus, since we'll be just about ready to move we'll be able to get rid of stuff we won't need when we move but we do still need now.  We made a bit of money toward the moving truck fund, but we still have a long way to go.  Moving trucks for cross country moves are expensive.  Friday I got a pretty bad sunburn from sitting out all day.   You'd think I would know better by now!  Silly me!

Theresa and I are having a girls night tonight while Shawn heads home to Carroll County to see a bunch of his old friends.  His friend Caleb is playing at a bar in town tonight so they will all be there.  I think we are gonna order Chinese food tonight and chill out without any men around!  Yay! Theresa and I haven't had a night with just us in way way too long!

Garage Sale

When: Friday, May 14th & Saturday, May 15th

Where: Mom's House

700 E. Dunn Ave.

Muncie, IN  47303

Why: Because we're all moving!

For those who were not yet aware, Shawn and I have decided to move to Austin, Texas.  My sister lives there and with her new baby almost here we decided it was important to be together...I say we although I am sure you can see that it is important to me to raise my children with my sister and her children...however, Shawn is really excited for the move as well!  He will be able to ride his bike year round now!  No more snow!  Yay!  Although Shawn and I are not starting our family quite yet, we are excited to be Auntie Lisa and Uncle Shawn soon! 

As we started debating about moving, we spoke with mom and we ended up with a plan to all move together.  Since her divorce Mom could certainly use a change of scenery and she is SO excited to be an abuelita soon. So, at the end of July, Mom, Eric, Shawn and I are moving down to Austin.  Eric is not overly thrilled, obviously, but he's coming around to the idea slowly.  We know he will love it there, plus he will be with Mom, Mimi and I, and as seeing as it isn't every teenage boy that enjoys spending time with his mother and sisters, I think this is a good plan!  Sara will be staying behind in Muncie, and that is what she wants at this time. So, please come by the garage sale this weekend if you're in the Muncie area and help us pay for our moving truck for the long journey to the south!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to the Best Mommy in the World!

Iron Man 2

I am sure this will be shocking to all...but we went to see Iron Man 2 last night fo the midnight showing.  The movie just opened today across the country and Shawn had to see it immediately!  I admit, I wanted to see it too, but not necessarily at midnight :)  The movie was great though!  Not as good as the original (of course) but still really great!  Definately worth seeing in the theater.  Jon Favreau did another fantastic directing job, as well as acting in the movie again. Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle were great as Iron Man (Tony Stark) & War Machine (Lt. Col. James "Rhoadey" Rhoades).  The fight scene at the end was amazing!  Gweneth Paltrow again portrayed Pepper Potts, but Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff was added to the cast.  Scarlett Johansson was totally kick ass, but it is good that her character didn't speak much because her acting was mediocre at best.  Samuel Jackson and Clark Gregg reprised their roles as the agents from SHIELD arranging the Avenger Initiative (so stay after the credits if you're a comic book nerd...you'll appreciate the little scene).  Mickey Rourke again proved that the is creepy, but in a good way for this role as his character is the perfect 'bad guy' that takes advantage of Sam Rockwell's character Justin Hammer, another arms manufacturer that wants desperately to show up the great Tony Stark.  Just go see the movie.  You'll love it!

American Airlines

I booked my flight for the trip to Texas for the birth of my first nephew!!  I will be arriving in Austin only 3 days before he is due, but I think he'll wait for me :)  Mimi has already given him orders to wait for me 'or else'.  I'm so excited!!!

Flowers

 Flowers are the most beautiful thing about Spring...

So I should love them, right?  Until last week I HATED them!  My allergies were so out of control!  But thanks to a nurse practitioner at my doctor's office and I happy and allergy symptom free thanks to Flonase!  Yay!  I was able to be around the beautiful flowers all day without one sneeze or anything!

What A Beautiful Day!

Shawn woke me up this morning with breakfast and coffee ready and waiting for me :)  It would have been perfect had it not been so early (although he will claim it wasn't early and I will agree that for MOST PEOPLE 930am is not early).  After breakfast we decided to spend the day downtown.  It was so beautiful out we couldn't resist.  Shawn wanted to see Buckingham Fountain again, so we headed out on the train.  Here are a few highlights from the day.

Shawn playing in the water like a kid again!

Interesting sculpture garden.  There were three of these tallk metal "flowers".  I thought it was really interesting!

There was some kind of Polish festival going on, including a parade.  This was a tribute to the Polish President that just passed away recently in that terrible plane crash.  The parade was totally blocking the street though!

We found this great shot while we were wandering around trying to figure out how to get across to the street to Buckingham Fountain without crossing the parade route.  Difficult task indeed.

We made it! Yay!

My favorite building...it's just before you get to Navy Pier.  I think it looks like a giant flask!

Lunch at Harry Caray's Tavern on the Pier. Yummy.

It was a good day.  We had dinner at Dad's (delicious steaks on the grill and tater tots!) before the Hawk's game.  The Hawk's game was quite a disappointment though. Vancouver completely dominated us!  Oh well...it is only game 1 of the series.  We'll get 'em Monday!