She’s been asking me for the past couple of years about the existence of Santa and the Tooth Fairy and if I was Santa and the Tooth Fairy.   The Easter Bunny is not a big deal to her.  I’ve been pretty evasive about the question and told her that “I believe in Santa” and  asked her if “she really thought that I looked like a fairy”.  I’m sure that deep down, she KNEW that Jim and I were the tooth fairy and Santa but she really wanted to believe.  This year, she asked Jim and he told her that that we were Santa and the Tooth Fairy.  I think that she was a little disappointed about finally knowing and was quick to ask if Santa still came even though she didn’t believe any more.  Even though she knew, there was a part of her that wants to believe in the magic.  So we told her that Yes, Santa would still visit her and we got tickets to the Polar Express Train ride from the Fox Valley Trolley Museum.  It was fun, but it was obvious that it was meant for littler kids.  And although she enjoyed the christmas carols and chatting with Santa, her first words out of her mouth were “I suggest that we NOT do this again next year”.  One of the best things about having a small child is enjoying the magic of Santa all over again and Although I’m a little sad that we have left Santa behind, It’s nice not not to have the pressure of being Santa.  Especially since my tenure of Santa is not exactly stellar.  Santa over the past couple of years has had some problems with quality control at the North Pole and Mere has received gifts that were just what she wanted, but were broken/not functional.   This year was no exception.  Jim bought a used typewriter from someone off the internet and by the time Mere got it out of the box and tried using it, the carriage didn’t advance when you pressed a key.  Fortunately, she is so in love with it that she doesn’t care and has been typing up a storm.  Jim found a place in the city to repair it, but first we have to pry it out of her hands when she goes back to school.   None of the rest of us has the first clue as to why she loves it, when she has her very own computer.

I’m not sure who was more excited on Christmas Eve, Meredith or me.  Earlier in December, Marlyce and Carol bought themselves an IPod Touch and Meredith REALLY liked it and wanted one.  She is not usually one to obsess over things, but she really wanted one and was doing everything and anything to figure out how to get her hands on one as soon as possible.  We told her that we liked it too, but that it was really way too expensive for Christmas and that we just couldn’t afford it right now and perhaps when we got our tax refund we would consider it.  She was good about it, but she really wanted one and latched onto Marlyce’s every chance she got.  She was a natural with it and immediately figured out how to change the wallpaper, download apps and access the internet with it.  She offered both Marlyce and Carol to provide them with technical support for the low fee of 15 minutes of usage per question.  Did I mention how much she liked the IPod Touch?  It turns out that Carol purchased an 8 gig I Touch on a spectacular cyber-monday deal and then decided that she wanted a 64 gig model.  Marlyce ended up with a 32 gig model and we bought the 8 gig for Meredith.  One day while she was in school, I set up I Tunes and uploaded all of the favorite MP3’s and designed a wallpaper graphic for her Christmas surprise.  I couldn’t wait to give it to her.  Marlyce and Carol wrote out some clues and we sent her running through the house to find them all.  At one point, she even had to dislodge Charlie, the cat, from his perch to get the envelope that he was sitting on.  Once she finally deciphered the clues, she went looking for the final clue on what she thought was Marlyce’s ITouch.  Here’s what she saw.

Meredith was speechless.  I’ve never seen her speechless before.  She had to read the graphic at least twice and ask for confirmation before she really beleived it.  It was great.  Then she screamed.  LOUDLY!  Between the ITouch and the typewriter, she was a very happy girl.  Later, when someone asked her if she got everything that she wanted, she grinned and said “Yes, and More”.  (The TV that the Aunts gave her was a big hit, too)  She really was surprised and thankful.  She sent me email that said “thanks for the gr8t gift and that I could use it, too.”   She is a great kid.

WHOA!  I made sure that I knew which kids she was with (I didn’t know by sight a couple of them), and verified that she would go home with one of the girls and call me from there.  I gave her my cell phone and hoped I’d get it back later.  It felt really weird to just leave her to roam the streets with her friends.  But I want her to be a “Free Range Kid“, and she is in 4th grade.  By 4th grade, I was roaming the neighborhood with my friends.

She ended up at Jessy’s house and asked to stay a while and go trick or treating with Jessy’s family.  Jessy’s dad took Meredith, Jessy and Jessy’s little sisters out for some after-dark trick or treating.  By the time she got home, she was happy, hungry and exhausted.  We’d already eaten, and she’d had hot dogs at Jessy’s, but she and I headed out to McDonalds to get her a snack.  On the way, she told me that it was the biggest and most fun Halloween ever.  She also said that she was really happy because, in the past, Halloween was all about being “cute”, NOW, it’s all about being “scary”.

I think that my days of trick or treating are over.  I expect that next year, she will make arrangements to go with her friends and Mom will assume the role of transportation provider.  As it should be.

Mere and Mer in Birmingham

She had a great time, and the trip was no problem.  Here’s her trip report.   Boy, was it quiet while she was gone.  I did get the entry way painted (without help), though.  The dogs missed her.  Shortly before we left for the airport to pick her up, I told the dogs that I was going to bring Mere home and they both jumped to the couch (in front of the bay window) to look for her.  I wish I had that on video.

Photo’s here:
http://flickr.com/photos/jrittenhouse/

We got to the gate in plenty of time (they recommend 1 1/2 hours early) and Meredith quickly found a little girl (about age 6) also flying solo for the first time.  Mere, the little girl and her cousins played together while they waited.  About a half hour before boarding, Mere zooms back to us gives us a hug and says “bye”.  I’d been prepared for her to be hesitant about the whole thing.  I was so distracted about the whole thing (and  getting her stuff together) that I forgot to bring my camera.  And I bring my camera everywhere.  I did use my cell phone, but the photos turned out bad.  I’ll put a couple in the files.  Jim just added a few more to his flickr account that Leigh Ann took at their end of 3 sad little girls saying goodbye.

The kids were assigned to an attendant and they were escorted down the walkway (without even a glance back).  During the pre-boarding they finally found the 3rd unaccompanied minor and were annoyed to learn that it was a young teen boy.  Much eye rollling and disgust.  They were hoping for a party.    The only complaint that I got from Meredith is that they wouldn’t let her have a 2nd soda on the return trip (she didn’t want the water).  She said that they sat in the 2nd row (the first didn’t have a tray table) and the flight attendant checked on them “every 10 minutes”.  I doubt it was every 10 minutes, but it sounds like they were watched pretty closely.

The part about the trip that bothered me the most was wondering if she could deal with 6 nights away from home/mommy.  In the past, she’s even been resistant to Jim or Grandma (who lives with us) taking her.  She wanted Mommy.  I trust Leigh Ann and Mike, so that wasn’t a concern at all.  The whole thing can be pretty intense, emotionally, and I wondered how she’d do.  Leigh Ann kept them busy so there wasn’t a lot of time to be missing home.  Mere also was treating this as practice for camp next summer when she and Mer want to do a week at Camp Juliette Low.

All in all it was a great success and on the way home from the airport, Mere first question was “When can I go back”?  We’re not sure Meredith Ellen will be ready at Christmas, we’re hoping so.  But perhaps next summer Mere can go down to Alabama, go to camp, and then both girls can travel together to Chicago.  They’d then get to spend 2 – 2 1/2 weeks together.  We’ll see how it goes.  We’re willing to let Mere do the traveling, if that’s what it takes.

The only down side is that the goodbyes at the airport get a little strung out and I think it’s harder for all the girls.  Ally even cried at the airport.  Meredith Grace did OK, I think because the saddness of leaving her sister was tempered with her excitement of returning home and seeing us.  Though, I didn’t get the huge welcome I was expecting.  It was as if she was coming home from school.  She has been a little clingy lately, though.  Catching up on Mom time and missing Mer, I’d guess.

Some links:

• Mosquito Allergy
• Reactions to Mosquito
• Mosquito bite pathogenesis in necrotic skin reactors

From: Mother Earth News

‘Abraham Lincoln’ was introduced in 1923 by the W. H. Buckbee seed company of Rockford, Ill., which named the tomato in honor of the state’s favorite son. It was released without much fanfare, but over the years it has proved itself to be one of the great tomato classics that happily survived the big shift to hybrids during the 1940s. After the demise of the Buckbee firm, the tomato was continued by R. H. Shumway of Randolph, Wis.

Looking back on the tomato situation in the 1920s, there were a lot of other big reds competing for culinary attention: ‘John Baer,’ ‘Bonny Best,’ ‘Landreth’ and ‘Henderson’s Winsall’ (developed in 1924 in response to ‘Abraham Lincoln’), yet most of those are selections of one another and when placed side by side, it’s pretty difficult to tell them apart. ‘Abraham Lincoln’ stands out, perhaps because of its dark red color and bronzy-green leaves. Buckbee claimed that the average fruit weighed about a pound; I would say it’s closer to 8 ounces, though some fruits occasionally do get that large. You tend to get smaller fruits if you allow them to develop in clusters from six to nine tomatoes, and larger specimens if you pull off the small ones.

Today, there are two strains of ‘Abraham Lincoln.’ The original 1923 strain is considered a late-season tomato, maturing in 87 to 90 days. Because I plant tomatoes outdoors in mid-April, this means I will have harvest-ready tomatoes by mid-July or early August at the latest. Another strain of ‘Abraham Lincoln,’ which is offered by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, was introduced around 1975 as a more mid-season tomato that matures about two weeks earlier. This strain does not have the distinctive bronzy green leaves of the original, but it is identical in all other respects, even the same flavorful dark red fruit.

March 28, 2008

By Eva McKendrick

Just ask Lois Balchunas, who in 1949 played for the Chicago Colleens, an exhibition team with the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Sliding into base is no big deal for your average ballplayer. “I would have preferred to wear pants,” said Balchunas, now 81 and a resident of Snow Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Lisle. (More from the Lisle Sun)

The photo above is Meredith Ellen at softball practice. Meredith Grace starts practice in Early April. More pics on that later.

Daredevil pup Stanley attracts more than a few stares when he goes for a ‘walk’ in his miniature Spitfire.

Passers-by might think the fourmonth- old wire-haired fox terrier is crazy, but he loves donning his flying hat, goggles and jacket for a spin.

Owners Phil and Sharon Cook, both in their 40s, mocked up the miniature plane for a Hallowe’en party, but Stanley enjoyed it so much that they can be seen trundling around the streets near their home in Leigh, Essex.

Mrs Cook said: ‘Stanley loves it. We decided to go for a Spitfire as a nod towards Remembrance Day. ‘He is content to sit in the cockpit and watch the world go by.’

The plane is made from an old holdall attached to a skateboard, while Stanley’s flying hat is fashioned from an old cuddly toy. Mr Cook said: ‘I reckon people think Stanley’s as barking as his owners.’

New owner looks to turn Book Nook around

Proprietor envisions hangout for young people

October 5, 2007

By Eva McKendrick Staff Writer

Kitty Murphy remembers growing up in Lisle and buying two pieces of candy for a penny at the Book Nook on Main Street. When she heard the shop was for sale, Murphy – who’d been looking for four years for a place to open a coffee and ice cream business – knew she found her location.

For information on the renovations, check out the shop’s Web site at myspace.com/lislebooknook.

Six months ago she bought the store, at 4738 Main St. The Book Nook sells magazines and newspapers, as well as candy and tobacco. Murphy said she isn’t sure how old the shop is, but she has pictures dating it back at least to 1958.

Murphy’s goal it to open a place in Lisle for young people to kick back and relax. “My dad always said kids in Lisle need a place to go where they’ll feel welcome, and it’s always stayed a dream of mine,” she said. The previous owners had sold the shop because it was losing money. “It’s a dying business,” Murphy said.

She bought the store with the intention of remodeling it and adding an ice cream and coffee area. During mission trips to Honduras, she found a brand of coffee whose sales aid homeless children in that area. That’s what she wanted to sell at her shop.

But more than anything, Murphy wanted to save the Book Nook. Her remodeling plans included tearing down the back wall, opening up the back door and constructing a porch where local bands could play on the evening and weekends.

After the Main Street streetscape project is finished, the 20 feet of sidewalk will allow her to have an outdoor sitting area. She would also like to add wireless Internet and handicapped-accessible bathrooms.

But Murphy’s dreams were stalled after a Health Department inspection. She estimates she’ll have to spend a total of $100,000 to make changes to comply with health codes.

After pouring her money into remodeling the basement, replacing the roof and other major expenses, Murphy is working on establishing more finances before she can continue the remodeling.

If a bank won’t lend her the money, she said she’ll cash in her retirement fund to turn the shop around. “I risked everything,” she said, adding that she hasn’t taken a paycheck in five months. Even with all the bumps in the road, Murphy is still hoping to have all the remodeling done by Christmas. “I want to make it a place for the community by the community,” she said.

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE, Near Michigan City, Ind.

Miles of beach, some with names and certain characteristics: Lakeview is nice for families, Central is one of the rare public-beach areas that invites your dog to swim along. Plus there are dunes trails and quality exhibits and programs we’ve come to expect from the National Park Service.

It’s very crowded on summer weekends. Two million come here annually, mostly in summer; another million come to the adjacent state park.

“Summer’s always fun,” says Koepke, who grew up in the shadow of the park’s famous dune, 123-foot-high Mt. Baldy, “but I like the fall too. Much less crowded, and if the wind is right and the lake is right, you can still have warm lake temperatures.”

One downside: Michigan City’s huge shoreline power plant, well to the east but a lurking presence nonetheless. Another: Parking on a summer Sunday can be gone well before church lets out.

I had a great time at the seminar. I could have done with some warmer weather, though. It was wonderful meeting Jill, Robin and both Libby’s.

I have always been a spiritual person and to me, the seminar was very similar to other spiritual retreats/seminars that I have taken through church. I go to Unity Church (not Unitarian), and it could be described as “new age”, except that Unity is not new and I really dislike the term “new age”. I’ve also always been an “animal person” and animals are usually drawn to me since I was very little. When I was 2 or 3 my dad had a cranky cocker spaniel that loved me. I used to give them all heart attacks when I’d go over to the dog while it was eating. She never bothered me. The family still laughs at how I used to give directions – “go down the street until you get to the house with the black dog…” When I was a teen, I read the J Allen Boone book, Kinship with all life, which is about animal communication, so this has been bouncing around in my brain for years. I was thrilled when Robin said that she was hosting the seminar; I got to learn more about animal communication and meet some online friends.

Originally, I was going to go alone with Dot. Mom then decided that she’d go and help drive. Mere was going to stay home with Jim and take care of Dash. A week or so before we were supposed to go, Mere decided that she wanted to go too. Mere is a Mommy’s girl and doesn’t like to be away from me at night. But Mere was worried about Dash. So we made arrangements to put Dash at Doggie Daycare while we were gone. On Friday morning, Mere was so upset about leaving Dash, and Dash lookesd so sad as we were getting the suitcases out, Mom offered to take care of Dash while Dot and I were in the seminar. So Dash came too.

I was expecting Dot to travel well, but did not know how Dash would travel. It turned out that Dot is not a good “long haul” traveler, but Dash is. Dot was on hyper alert (while sitting on my lap) and was rather agitated for the whole 6 hours and wouldn’t pee/poop while on a leash. Dash didn’t like to pee/poop on a leash, but she adapted. Dot didn’t. Dash settled down by either Mere or me and slept most of the way. For the last hour, Dash crawled up on Mere’s lap to sleep while she made up love songs for Dash. My favorite was when she proclaimed her love for Dash by singing “I love you as much as I love Mommy and cheese”. That’s a lot of love. At least I rate as high as cheese.

We met Jill and Libby in the parking lot (on a potty break) as soon as we got to the hotel. Neither of our dogs (or libby) peed or pooped. Though Dash peed on Jills carpet at the hotel. Both of our dogs settled down and slept pretty good at the hotel. A couple of bouts of barking when someone (maybe Libby and Jill?) walked by our room.

Mom and Mere drove with us to Robin’s to drop me off. Mere was excited and wanted to “see all those dogs”. We took Dash in to, so that Robin could meet Dash, who both peed and pooped on Robin’s floor. Then Mere did something that was totally unexpected. She insisted that Dash stay with me and Dot. I was very surprised and said ok. It turned out to be a good thing. Dash had a great time. I think the change of pace, new environment, new dogs, new people to visit was good for their mental health.

During our morning session, Mary, our fearless leader, did some meditation exercises and some “warm-up” communication/telepathy exercises. I did surprisingly well. The dogs were wandering around and/or sleeping near their owners during this time. All of them were very calm and well behaved. I was amazed at how they all got along. Robin’s Libby was an extremely good hostess and allowed Dot to stake out the prime territory in the front window. I’m not sure Dot would have done the same if we’d have been at our house.

After a wonderful lunch, we started working with the dogs. Mary chose 4 dogs and we were asked to talk to the dogs and ask them questions like what’s your favorite toy, treat, etc. Dash was one of the dogs chosen and she told the others that she really likes people and her favorite game is chase and her favorite treat is “butter”. Dash is a very social dog who lives to chase and her favorite treat is peanutbutter. Some of what I was getting from the other dogs (that turned out to be accurate) is that Ruby ( http://tinyurl.com/24amao ), the adorable norwich terrier that Mere fell in love with, has an orange squeaky toy that she carries around all the time, and that JD ( http://tinyurl.com/2cgzvp ), a shy border collie, is afraid to leave home because he doesn’t want to be left at a kennel. I later found out that JD had been to a kennel and had run away from it. I didn’t ask Libby Longtail anything because I felt like I new enough about her and Jill that it wouldn’t be a fair test.

Another exercise was that we paired off to “give a reading” to your partners dog. I was paired with JD and his mom, Jacque. I went first. Jacque wanted to know why JD was so shy and protective of her. JD does not like to leave home and barred her teeth in the direction of any dog who came anywhere close to Jacque. So I gave it a try. What I came up with was that JD is quite happy to be with Jacque and doesn’t want to lose her and she will do whatever it takes to keep things that way. Mary came over and basically verified what I said. I was amazed. It turns out that JD is a former rescue and Jacque is JD’s 3rd home, but I didn’t know that until later. Then it was Jacque’s turn to talk to Dot. I wanted to know about why Dot attacks and compulsively licks the back door. I think that Jacque was was feeling very self conscious and didn’t come up with anything for Dot. Mary came over and talked to Dot and told me that when Dot was a puppy, she got her foot caught under the door and she was MAD at that door. I asked Mary to ask Dot what we could do to get her over it and Mary laughed and said that Dot was very stubborn and wasn’t about to give up being MAD at that door. I don’t remember Dot getting her foot hurt by the door, but it is a very real possibility that something happened. And I do know that we have tried everything to get her to quit attacking the door and nothing works. Also, it’s the only door Dot attacks. I was also told that Dot wants new/more squeaky toys of her own (that Dash can’t have).

I certainly believe that humans can communicate with animals psychically, and I feel that I am, perhaps, tuned in more than some. It feels somewhat like cheating or that you are making it up. Perhaps some of what I was getting was from observation, but communication is all about making a connection using all of your powers of intuition, perception and observation. All in all, I was very glad that I went and I think that my relationship with the dogs will be better because of it.

It was amazing that we had four female WFT’s in the same house and only one scuffle. Mom said that it was amusing to watch all of us move so quickly to grab our dogs. Mary said that it’s not unusual for the dogs to pick up on the calming energy at the seminar. I think that there was something to that, because even when all the dogs were excited (and barking) at the deer outside, none of them went for the others. There even seemed to be some carryover effect on the dogs the next day. Dot was much calmer in the car on the ride home.