Why I Oughta...

A few blocks over, the neighbors on Fairmount Street host an annual block party in September that features a Soapbox Derby.  This was our first time attending.  And it was great fun.  You can see the Bird riding along with one of the girls from the block in the video above to get a sense for the setup.  The neighbors on the block come together and put together quite an event starting with the starting gate/ramp.  There's a DJ and they had a food truck come out along with a keg, a snow cone maker and a lot of food.   Nat and I know just some people from our block, but we didn't know many folks from the neighboring streets - but we took the time to get to know a few new people and they couldn't have been more inviting.  This is a real, authentic family event.  It was really enjoyable.  The kids - and I am assuming - their fathers really showed a lot of creativity in designing the various cars involved.  There must have been more than 70 various cars built on vari

Crimson flames tied through my ears, rollin' high and mighty traps Pounced with fire on flaming roads using ideas as my maps "We'll meet on edges, soon, " said I, proud 'neath heated brow Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth, "rip down all hate, " I screamed Lies that life is black and white spoke from my skull, I dreamed Romantic facts of musketeers foundationed deep, somehow Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now Girls' faces formed the forward path from phony jealousy To memorizing politics of ancient history Flung down by corpse evangelists, unthought of, though somehow Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now A self-ordained professor's tongue too serious to fool Spouted out that liberty is just equality in school "Equality, " I spoke the word as if a wedding vow Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger tha

For our anniversary this year, we were gifted this beautiful rose bush from Nat's folks.  And at first look, it is just a nice looking peach/orange rose plant.  We don't have any roses and have never cared for one, but we've always admired them.  So, at first blush, it was a nice, simple gift.  But take a closer look at the tag and this suddenly becomes a really thoughtful gift: Yeah!  A Disneyland Rose.  Or a Disneyland Floribunda Rose from Jackson & Perkins to be precise.  I actually didn't even know there *was* a Disneyland Rose.  But it is a perfect gift for us, right?  Hits us right where we swoon:  in between our love for all-things-Disney and gardening in our #newoldbackyard.  As I said:  thoughtful.  Gift giving isn't easy.  But when you find someone who is good at it, they continue to surprise and delight you over time.  There are people who are 'good' at the internet.  They post the right comments on Instagram.  They send you the rig

Almost one year ago to the day, I posted a photo of Menards Christmas Creep showing up at the Melrose Park location .  I remarked last year that they had most of their Christmas stuff up, but not the full 'Enchanted Forest' and I was surprised.  This year?  I'm no longer going to the Melrose Park location, but instead now head to Bolingbrook most often.  And that has the old store layout.  And that means that they still have the Halloween stuff up in the seasonal section, but they've converted a lot of the patio furniture area into Christmas decorations that you see above.   It is mostly lights, but there are a few blowmolds scattered around.  No inflatables, though.  I only had the King of the Ball Tossers with me and had him strapped into the cart, so there wasn't running around the aisles like there was last year .  Here's some photos of Menards Christmas last year . Here's a post from Menards Christmas 2015 .   And their Christmas Village fr

Down in the bowels of Union Station these days you'll find this hourglass and floor/wall takeover from Travel Wisconsin encouraging all of us to get up to 'see the fall color before the leaves fall' .  The hourglass is clever and in terms of size it is pretty big and grabs your attention as you leave the Great Hall and head to your platforms, so it seems like a nice placement. Really seems like Wisconsin is trying to horn in on the whole Pure Michigan thing, right?  Now that I'm not a Michigander any longer (or Michigander by lake house), I'm rooting for Wisconsin.  Cute campaign all around

You guys!  There is such good news for non-breakfast-food-eating crowd that shows up at Egg Harbor these days.  Turkey Burgers are back!     You're probably muttering..."welp...I didn't even know they were gone?"   And that's normal.  Because you eat eggs and pancakes and other breakfast what-have-yous like a normal person.  But me?  Not so much.  More than a year ago, Egg Harbor took the turkey burger off their menu.  I was left with....oatmeal.   Which is fine.  But it always felt like a plan b to me. But now?  I'm waltzing into Egg Harbor like this these days:

We stopped at the Farmer's Market in Woodstock on a recent Saturday as part of a trip to Twin Lakes.   We were walking to lunch across the square that looks a lot like Stars Hollow (according to Nat!) and while many of the flower and produce stands/vendors didn't make me think twice, when I came across a booth that was selling club cheese , well....I was going to stop.   Turns out, it was a booth from the folks at Glas All Naturals Cheese Spreads .  At the booth, they had a variety of cheeses including the one you see above that I bought: Cheddar.   Glas packages their cheese spreads in glass jars (with *that* name, it seems like a natural fit!) and a metal spin-on lid.  It wasn't cheap at $14, but I figured I'd give it a shot and see what it was like.   You can see on the lid, they state 'keep refrigerated', but during the transaction, they also stressed the freezable nature of this particular club cheese.  They said that we could put it in t