Where Has May Gone?

I had no idea how long it had been since my last post of May 4 until I opened my blog today. It's not that there isn't anything to write about, it's just that I found out that even in May you can experience the devastating effects of cabin fever on the psyche. Since I wasn't able to do the things I really wanted to do, I couldn't find the motivation to do even the things I could do. The recent devastation caused by tornadoes around the Midwest was a come to Jesus wake up call to me. I became ashamed of the moaning I have done about a few missed outdoor activities when we have been so fortunately spared the tragedy that so many have had to endure.

We have actually had a few very nice week-ends in spite of the crummy weekday weather.

I had one of the greatest Mother's days in a very long time. I found myself surrounded by children and grandchildren for the week-end. The Green Bay Chilsons were all in attendance. We had a nice bike ride stopping off at a park on Saturday and ate our way through Chicago food which started with Papa's Pizza, continued through Portillo's Italian beef and finished off with a Mrs. Fields birthday cookie in honor of Elise's upcoming third birthday.

Lindsay joined us for most of the day. We were able to get over to her new house and took a break there to have a little fun with the Kentucky Derby. We all drew horses to bet on and contributed a dollar to the pool which was seeded with a little extra cash by our local bookie, grandpa. Ella was the big winner in the pool. She won first and second place for $15. I hope she spent it well.

Sunday they all accompanied me to church, and we played a little baseball, built a fire in the bong, and grilled brats before they headed for home. That's about as close to perfection as a Mother's Day can get.

A few days later I received a package in the mail from the Atlanta Chilsons of 6 pints of ice cream. How great is that? Who would believe you could send ice cream in the mail?  I just finished the last drop this week.

Of course, the Minnesota Chilsons were all acounted for with greetings of love and phone conversation.

The next week found us out with the Fox Valley Winnies on a camping week-end in Shipshewana, Indiana. We took this opportunity to visit nearby Elkhart and Don's mothers's cousins. We spent a delightful afternoon listening to stories from long long ago and following up on some of his geneology pursuits. It is so interesting to receive historical information from those who have lived it. Present also was a cousin of his own generation whom we haven't seen in 40 years and yet is somehow felt like the years have never passed. 

Mary Jean lives in a lovely home on the St. Joe river where she introduced us to the family of swans who have taken up residency on the nearby shore.

Well guess what. A few days home again and we headed up to Green Bay where we had a couple of days alone with the kids while their parents enjoyed some much needed alone time for R & R.


Well, here we are home again for a couple of weeks. The rain is coming in again, but it looks like I might finally be able to get a golf game in tomorrow before it comes back again on Thursday. O well, at least the lawns are a beautiful shade of green and all the vegetation looks greater than ever. I might even be able to get some flowers planted between storms this week. And I'll add a prayer of thanksgiving with each plant I pot that our home and family are intact and healthy.