Jeff in Carlinville

See pictures on next post.

It was great having Jeff here. We really did enjoy it. He came in by Greyhound from Philadelphia, mostly without incident. He got here that evening, then had to turn around and head out early the next morning and drive to O'Hare to meet Mie coming in from Japan. They stayed there several days, saw the sights, went to a Cubs game, met up with Mie’s friend from Ann Arbor, went shopping. I’ll let Jeff blog about all that, if he so chooses. Part-way through his stay there, he and Mie drove south to meet us in Bloomington. We all went to the world-famous Avanti’s. Mie is as cute as a button, and very sweet. We exchanged gifts and had a wonderful visit. Jeff was very impressive acting as translator, though Mie did fine with the few sentences she tried in English.

After Mie flew back to Japan, Jeff returned here. He helped mow the lawn, both at our house and at my parents’ house. It’s mostly cleaned out now, and on the market. The piano is now here, and Jeff favored us with lots of music, which we loved.

Jeff and I enjoyed some superior homemade pecan pie. We watched several Cardinals games on TV, and I enjoyed his comments. We also saw Garza's no-hitter. One day, by happenstance, Diane Van Winkle had two free tickets to the Sliders game in Springfield, so I snapped them up, and Jeff and I attended their game with the Danville Dans (!). I hadn’t realized that Springfield is not even a minor league team, but instead is in an amateur league. The Sliders’ VP for Baseball Operations is Jack Clark (yes, that Jack Clark) and their field manager is Curt Ford (Cardinals 85-88, Phillies 89-90), but the players are mostly freshmen and sophomore players for Division I universities. The Sliders have players from Creighton, Illinois, Purdue, Iowa, Washington State, Pepperdine, UCLA, etc. I was amazed at how mediocre the play was. Makes you appreciate the Cubs and Cardinals! But the game was a lot of fun. Lamphier Park was only about 1/10 full and we could easily have sat right behind home plate. Plenty of kids and other interesting people were milling around. We sat in front of a kid wearing a Blackburn baseball shirt. Turns out his brother is going to BC in the fall. More about him in a minute. The Sliders’ mascot is Speedy the Turtle.

Between innings they do all sorts of fun amusements and contests. A mother and daughter from the audience were dressed in sumo-like fat-suits and ran into each other until one fell down. Two guys spun around with their foreheads on baseball bats until they were really dizzy, then raced to third base. A woman in the stands tried to throw water balloons into a bucket on the head of her husband standing on the field. Because she actually got one into the bucket, she won a used water bottle autographed by one of the players! Two guys raced from home plate to cups of “soda” (actually beer, apparently) positioned about halfway to third base, chug them, then race to two more cups even with the bag, chug them, then race to the finish line down the outfield foul line. They were tied until after the second cup when, for some reason, the one guy (brother of future BC student) turned around and ran the wrong way! It was hilarious. Anyway, the Dans ultimately won the game. There were some pretty good fireworks after the game, the kids got to run the bases, and we all went home. A thoroughly satisfying and fun evening.

I drove Jeff to the airport early yesterday morning because he had to tutor that afternoon. We had a great time. I wish his stay could have been longer.

How awesome are my kids?

I have wonderful sons and daughters-in-law (current and future). Here's one reason. First some background: They recently went through the stuff in my mother's house and found a small home made recipe book. It had been made by my second grade class from favorite recipes the kids brought from home. Mine was my mother's recipe for pecan pie. Pecan pie is my favorite pie and close to my favorite food of all time. Well, for a birthday present my kids filled a box with the recipe book, and all the ingredients freshly purchased at the market. Mind you, this is NOT a heart healthy dish. Four tablespoons of butter, a cup of Karo syrup PLUS some sugar. Three whole eggs. Lots of vanilla. Plenty of pecans. Plus two pre-made crusts, ready to bake. So last night I whipped up a pie, took some pictures, and ate a piece. Here are some pictures of the pie, plus Mom's healthy alternative dessert.