Bark, Bark, Bark!

Wow! I haven't posted for a long time. But I do have all kinds of excuses. There's been a Baptism, the Lands' End Harris Park Sale, a couple of Cub's games, a surprise birthday party, an ongoing baby wait and most of all, a BIG "Blog Block". The baptism involved one really cute kid from Seattle. Caiden, the son of Sally's best friend Lisa, was Baptized at our old church down in Arlington Heights, Illinois. (Photos at left show Caiden before and after Baptism) It was a quick one day roundtrip drive to the Chicago area for Jo and I, but a long trip back to Minneapolis for Sally and Uncas.
Although I promised myself that I'd never go back to "real" work again, I broke down and volunteered to work at the big Lands' End warehouse sale. With all of you as my witnesses, I solemnly vow to never do that again. After one day of standing in a tent hanging pants on hangers for eight hours I could hardly walk across the parking lot to my car. (Old feet aren't built for eight hours of standing.) Fortunately, after two and a half days the sale was going so well that my services weren't needed any longer. It only took me three or four days to recuperate. After adding up the purchases that Jo and I made, it cost me less than a hundred bucks to work for the two and a half days.
The two Cub's games were, well, typical Cub's games. Win a few, lose a few. Actually, win one, lose one. Nothing out of the ordinary other than a close encounter with a linedrive foul ball, a
one hour rain delay and a nonstop jabbering lady behind us. But, the trip to Chicago, in itself, was kind of special. We found a little "Boutique" hotel just off of the Outer Drive, walking distance to Wrigley Field, was accessible to wonderful restaurants and just across The Drive from the lake front. The games were just the tip of the weekend iceberg. Since around April the kids and I have been planning a surprise birthday party for Jo's sixtieth. My main job was to get Jo out of the house for a couple of days and deliver her back home on Saturday afternoon while Sally and Uncas would drive down to Fennimore on Friday to prepare food, decorations etc. and Derek and Jeanna were supposed to have a baby. Mine was the easy job. The Cub's games would take care Thursday and Friday. Friday night, my sister Mary and Hubby Jim would go to dinner with us and put us up at their house for the night. Saturday morning we visited my mom. This is where things got a little goofy. Unknown to Jo, my sister, my nephew, his wife and son were waiting for us to leave so they could head up to the party. We were delayed getting over to visit my mom and before I knew it, my stalling tactics had backfired and suddenly I was running late. In an effort to waste some time I had suggested that we go to my old neighborhood to take some pictures of the changes that have taken place in the area. But, after visiting my mom, we were already close to an hour behind schedule. Mary and her family were on their way and many of the "Surprisers" were arriving for the party. When I started East towards the picture taking excuse, I realized that I had to get home as soon as possible and going to take pictures would put us over two hours late with forty some people waiting for lunch. I wisely became violently ill and suggested that we head straight home and skip the photo shoot until sometime when I felt better. Jo went for it and even asked if she should drive. Not necessary. Besides she probably wouldn't have driven as fast as I did. I didn't stop until the "Low Fuel" light went on in Madison and while Jo was in the convenience store getting a soda "for my stomach" I called Sally to alert her of our position. We made it home just about an hour late but the party was a success and Jo was completely surprised.
As of this posting Derek and Jeanna are still awaiting the arrival of "Baby Blume".
OH! And the bark, bark thing... It seems that after the party was over and the guests had left Jo, Sally, Uncas and I were rehashing the events of the day. I noticed a baggie on the kitchen counter containing, what I thought was, chocolate covered peanuts. Not being able to resist one of my favorite munchies, I opened the bag and popped one of the little delights into my mouth. It took mere seconds for me to realize that that little morsel wasn't a chocolate covered peanut, but a liver doggy treat for little Sammy the dachshund puppy. Ich, spit, yuck!
Here's some pics to look at while I go gargle.

Traffic jams in Chicago aren't limited to the Expressways.

The unsuspecting Birthday Girl enjoys the Lake Front

It must have been something I ate!