Why I Oughta...

We've had a great weekend thus far that included a lot of lake time as well as seeing some old friends.  We went up to Coloma and celebrated our neice/nephew's birthday(s) and spent way too much time in the sun. We also brought the Babe out on her first boat ride.  Pretty cute. When we arrived back home, we caught up with some old friends who had arrived from Nashville.  Great to see them and their growing children.  Rumor has it that there is another party involving the Nashville folks this weekend.  I'm going to try to keep my social calendar open in case the invitation arrives late!

This Tuesday, I make my last walk from my office to Kellogg's Campus in Chicago.  It will be my last class.  Ever. When I went to pick up my mail last week in the mailroom, there was this posterboard staring me in the face: I have been looking at these posters for each the past 10 quarters.  Each time they have a graduating class, they post one of these.  I've never given it much more than a glance.  At least until this time.

Even the tourists are getting into the act.  Check out this set of (French, I think!) tourists I walked by near Michigan Avenue on Tuesday. Look closely (click the image above).  Although she isn't wearing a Hawks sweater, it does seem eerily familiar, doesn't it? Oh....you think that she was dressing fashionably and this is just a coincidence?

Last week, a friend asked a group of us what she should be thinking about getting for her husband for Father's Day.  I gave her one suggestion, but I'm not sure she took it, so I won't share it with you quite yet. But...for those Mom's out there looking for a great Father's Day gift for 2010, I'm going to throw out some ideas and see if I can help a Dad or two out. To begin with - for Dad's of all ages - I would look no further than Williams Sonoma and their latest cookie cutters.  These are the Father's Day gift that keeps on giving:   Star Wars Cookie Cutters .  I'm not so much talking about giving the cutters as a gift as I am about making Storm Trooper cookies for your Dad/Husband on Father's Day. Your husband/Dad will be eating Darth Vadar cookies for Father's Day and his birthday, and maybe even Christmas!

Earlier this spring, I was concerned that some of our plants didn't weather through the winter - specifically the peonies . We have good news to report.  They're back....and they're spectacular!  

Yesterday, we held a press conference at TSS-Radio on the northside of the city with Mayor Daley regarding Google's Economic Impact on Illinois (more on that later).  I picked the hosts from a list of Google customers in Chicago and these guys had a friend in common (thanks, Eric!).  They turned out to be great hosts and told a great story for the event. That's not the best part.  They're a satellite radio parts/supplies company.  A real long-tail business.  The founders of the company are huge Howard Stern fans.  I'm not afraid to admit that I am too.  In fact...I like to think that I don't really have satellite radio.  I have a Howard Stern Machine. Due to their fandom, these guys bought the "Baba Booey Ball".  For 99% of you guys reading this, you won't understand, but for one or two of you guys, you'll get a chuckle out of this photo. One of the speakers (the guy from the State of Illinois) referenced the ball and said "Baba Booey&quo

One of the next projects in our backyard - now that the garage is done - is to put in a patio and walkway (from garage to house to front parking pad).  We pulled the trigger and bought pavers over the weekend. They're getting delivered next week.  We wanted something a bit different - and this is a photo from the advertisement they were in. We brought a few home, so I'll take some photos of them in the sun to show off.   The patio should start in the next few weeks.  

With the baseball season in full swing (and my White Sox stinking up the joint), my mind - and attention - have begun to focus on America's Pastime.  One way or the other, I was turned on to this browser extension for the Chrome browser.  It is called "Baseball Player Search", but it really is a pretty amazing baseball lookup.  Once you add it, you can click on the little ball in the corner and down drops this toolset: You check as many of the boxes as you want, pop in a player's name and hit search.  Up pops as many tabs as you've checked and you get every bit of info at your fingertips. If you're not using Chrome, you should.  Seriously.  And....if you are a baseball guy/girl, this might just put it over the edge and convert you!

By normal standards, I am not your typical country music fan.  I'm not into *new* country like Rascal Flatts nor Taylor Swift.  But, much to Nat's chagrin, I *do* indeed like country music.  At least country music that sounds like this:  (go ahead...even though the player in Vietnamese, it is fine.  Plays just like a YouTube video.) That's a song called Corrine, Corrina as performed by "Willie and the Wheel"- which is Willie Nelson backed by a pretty rad band called " Asleep at the Whee l".  If you haven't already, click play in the little flash player then go on with your day in your other tabs.  I bet you'll come back and hit "replay" when it is done.  It is that good.  There's plenty of other versions of the song.

In addition to Holland  and St. Joe's , last week we spent some time in South Haven.  Like we do everytime we go to South Haven, we make a stop at both Cafe Julia and (for some reason) Decadent Dogs .  Decadent Dogs is your typical dog store: toys, collars, treats, etc.  They also have a big rack of guard dog signs.  Nat spun the rack and saw this one - which we couldn't stop laughing at. Nat's folks have a Bichon named Riley, so we could NOT pass this up.   Riley is....anything....but a guard dog!