Tuesday - October 10

 Beautiful fall day.    We were off at 9:30 with 5 loads of laundry to take to Normal Maytag Coin Laundry.    The attendant, Jack, is so nice and friendly,    He always asks about our travels, etc.    Today he told us all about the new laundry facility coming soon - totally remodeling with all brand new stainless steel machines, cards instead of quarters, no charge for drying, etc.    He was saying that the company that owns over 7,000 laundromats across the country has over 500,000 machines with 22,000 not working! 😖    He showed us pics and they will close for 3 days and be finished sometime in November.    We'll have to wait till next spring!

Then we ran a few errands and met friends Pat and Brenda at The Station Saloon for lunch and celebrate Brenda's birthday.    We enjoyed our lunch - lots of choices and very reasonable.   We sat and chatted for 2 hours laughing and just really fun to be together and catch up.

Pat and the Birthday Girl

Friends since 1979 when they moved to Bloomington and we were neighbors

on Jackson Street

One more stop at Dollar Tree and on home.    Quiet afternoon in the country reading and playing games on our I-pads.  The farmers are going strong!

Then time to "EAT' again....so back to town to meet Anne and Connor at Hacienda Leon for some great Mexican fare.  Fun catching up about golf tournament, homecoming, school, etc., etc.  

The gals

The guys

Monday - October 9

 Chilly and windy with sun and clouds.   We met Pat, Brenda, Ken and Sigrun at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and chatter.....a nice round tabe for 6 and we carried on for over 2 hours!    Stopped at WalMart for a few things and on home.

Sigrun and her broken wrist but fortunately, does not need surgery - wears this soft splint for 3 weeks!

Ken in background!

We are under a frost advisory for the next several hours----burrr, time to head south!

Tonight was to be a wiener roast here at KK for my Monday Night Friends and husbands.   Ruth who lives on a farm in rural Chenoa graciously offered to have us come to their heated shed (with outside fire pit).    It did not take long for all of us to say "YES"!!!   Brenda, Marsha and I all spent the weekend cheering on our grandkids with their sports (tennis, football and golf) and we had enough with the cold and wind!    So, this was a win win for all.

So off to Chenoa for a fun evening in the country - just 5 of us + hubbies, but great food and conversation.    

Brenda, Ruth, Pat Marsha, Tamara

Pat, Darrel, Mark, Bob, Gerry

Ruth gave me a sweet bouquet of zinnias from her garden

Bob's shirt

 

 

Sunday - October 8

 Off to 10:00 Mass at Holy Trinity with Father Stirniman.    Mark came back to Carlock and had lunch at the Carlock Family Restaurant and I drove to Destihl to meet Claire for brunch.   We enjoyed 1.5 hours of chatter and delicious food.    We each changed or added more layers and went to the Evergreen Cemetery Walk (29th annual)    Mark and I did this many years ago.    Big crowd today (the last of 4 performances) and so well done by the characters (6 different vignettes).    The actors were excellent as we meandered thru the cemetery gazing at the many tombstones from so long ago and then these 6 stories came alive.    It was much more comfortable temperature than the past few days but had a little drizzle off and on.

Said bye bye to Claire - won't see her till January in Fort Myers!    On back to KK.

Ryan has returned from his cruise from Boston to Quebec (including Princce Edward Island, Nova Scotia, etc.)    He was home for a few hours and then off to Paris!

Zoom tonight with only 6.    Some are traveling....Jim in Mississippi; Janet in North Dakota; and Tom in Tennessee.  

Have a good week and stay warm with these chilly fall temps.

Saturday - October 7

 Another big day at Prairie Vista but the sun was shining all day.....we left KK at 8ish and temp was 42.    Only got in the 50's, and still windy, but overall, MUCH better than yesterday!     And Connor had a really good day shooting a 74 with 2 birdies.

 Connor and the squaking geese

Reading the green

Mark and I were so happy we got to see his last hurrah as a Saints golfer.   Connor tied for 13th best overall and the Saints came in 5th place (2 strokes from 4th).

Proud Mama and Connor

Connor and Grandpa

Grandma and Connor

Several classmates came out to cheer on the Saints.    Said our good byes to Liam as he'll be heading back to Iowa tomorrow.

Mark and I ran a few errands and on back to KK.    Happy to be in warm toasty Flo.

Homecoming at CCHS tonight....here's our grand boys!

Connor and Haley

Liam and Jaycee

Ruby had 9 miles when we picked her up Monday - 5 days later, she has 684.   We are slowly learning her bells and whistles!

Friday - October 6

 Oh my......today was brutal on the ole golf course!     Started out sunny and calm (50) and warmed up a little, but then the wind picked up, the clouds appeared and oh my.........cold, windy and occasional drizzle.    MISERABLE walking around and really felt for the golfers who were not dressed for this weather.

Connor teed off at 9:06, shot a 79 and CCHS came in 4th place out of 12 teams.  Six hours later, the temp was 52 and drizzling and we were outta there.  They will advance to tomorrow's match.    We were thankful to hang out just a bit at our friends Pat and Brenda's condo on the 13th hole to warm up.    They were at their granddaughter's tennis meet.

Came back to KK, took a nap under a warm blankie and slowly thawed out!    More of the same tomorrow with colder temps.    Sunshine was in the forecast for today......but that fizzled out big time.

q

Mark - Anne - Liam

What is Connor thinking?