how these days grow long
but I`m on my way back home
it’s been hard to be away

~Brandi Carlile

It felt like it was time to go home. And so we went.

That’s how Chicago still feels to me. Taking the Ogden Ave exit from 83 South is just….well, it’s exactly the same as it ever was.

Some things are completely unrecognizable now, but almost everything else is still…home.

This was our first stop.

September has always been sort of an intense month.

Anyway, then we went to Baker’s Square so I could have some French Silk Pie.  It made me a little sick, but it was a good sick, you know? I wish there were less cupcake shops and more pie shops around DC. I don’t know why pie gets the shaft.

After gorging on pie we drove around my old neighborhood, and stopped by Mrs Butler’s house since she was having a garage sale. Unfortunately we left just a little before Mr Mitchell popped over to say hi. I used to babysit for Mr Mitchell, and apparently he asked about me and wanted to make sure Aaron was taking good care of me. I love chivalry.

What else do you do on a Saturday in the suburbs than hit Oak Brook Mall and wander around for a bit? We even got some shopping in – Aaron had a personal shopper at The Gap who found him some snazzy jeans. They look great, except when he wears them I have to carry his phone in my purse. Fashion hurts.

We had drinks with my tennis buddy Karen and met her husband – I don’t think I’d seen Karen since high school, so it was great to catch up. We talked about wanting to open up B&B’s in various parts of the world.

Then we drove into Chicago, through construction traffic, and finally made it to the Dana Hotel and Spa – which is freaking amazing. We somehow landed a corner room, which (like all the rooms) has floor to ceiling windows for walls. It was awesome.

I’ll spare you the shot of the bathroom, but there was a glass wall separating the shower from the rest of the room, and if you didn’t pull the curtain closed just right (or left it wide open…) you could catch quite an eyeful.

We had just enough time to freshen up before meeting Steph and Scott for dinner at 1492.

Dinner was great, and after two pitchers of white sangria, we were definitely the loudest table, and the last ones to leave. We had such a blast.

My best friend from kindergarten:

We’ve come a long way from Gilbert Ave, Steph.

On the way back to the hotel, Scott pointed out the steps of the church where the St Valentine’s Day massacre took place. Chicago is kind of bad ass.

The next morning we were up early and headed off to meet up with Jenny at Lou Mitchell’s for brunch. Chicago is pretty empty on Sunday mornings.

It was really good to catch up with Jenny – the time just flew by.

Before we knew it we had to head back out to the suburbs, and we went to Katherine Legge Memorial Park for a picnic with Lisa and her family. It was a gorgeous day and we had so much fun – special thanks to Lisa’s dad for bringing over the grill!

I finally got to meet Lisa’s husband and son, and we had a great time catching up.

And Aaron and I finally got a picture of us together!

We ended the day with another trip to Baker’s Square since it used to be where Lisa and I would go all the time. This time I had my favorite – triple berry pie. It was every bit as good as I remembered it.

We said goodbye to Lisa and family and headed back to my old neighborhood park.

I couldn’t get a great shot, but here’s the view from our hill.

Yeah, home.

We checked into our hotel in Westmont – unsurprisingly, it was nowhere near as nice as the Dana, but it served its purpose I guess.

Monday morning we drove around and explored a bit more, then met up with Franny for lunch. Of course, I forgot my camera.

Hopefully we’ll meet up with her again when we are in France, since she lives in Switzerland these days.

It is amazing to be able to spend time with people you’ve known for over half your life. People who have known you from the beginning, through your trials and triumphs, and still love you and can make you laugh and can give you a reality check when you need it. I’m really lucky to still have friends like these.

After we left Franny, we freshened up in the hotel and headed over to Dee’s house for dinner. Again, no camera.

She showed off all the changes she had made to the house and yard, and everything looks amazing. It was good to be back.

We had a really nice seafood dinner and got all caught up. We had to get up super early for our flight home so we called it an early night.

And that was Chicago. A jam packed long weekend full of food, friends, and memories. And Aaron said he wouldn’t mind living somewhere around there.

I’ll have to bring him back in the middle of January and see if he changes his mind.

It was actually pretty excruciating for me.

I do not do well with endings. I still really miss him.

And I learned that knowing when the end is going to come still really sucks.

Although being surprised by endings also really sucks.

So I guess there’s a theme here…

We’re heading home to my roots this weekend. Ostensibly the trip is to see friends I haven’t seen in a while, and I picked the weekend we are going because a good friend from high school will be back in town then too.

But I would have gone back for a night, even just for a day, to visit my dad at the cemetery. We fought to get him buried in the cemetery closer to our house rather than the one downtown where his mother is buried.

And now none of us live there anymore.

Sad.

I always wish that I had heard what my brother was trying to tell me that sophomore year in college, when he said Daddy was getting sick. But I didn’t put the pieces together, and he passed away before I could say goodbye. I don’t even know the last thing I said to him, or how long it had been since I had last called him, or heard his gravelly voice.

And that kills me.

But really, I wonder what I would have said, if I had had the chance. He certainly was not emotional or effusive. He always sort of begrudgingly accepted hugs or displays of affection. Realistically if I had tried to tell him that I loved him, that he was a great father, that I learned so much from him – he would have patted my back and said, “Ok, Shell, alright, alright,” and refilled his tea.

I think he was proud of me. I know he was happy that I got a full ride and he didn’t have to worry about how I would pay for college (although he really wanted me to go to MIT…but not having a lot of debt was much more important). I think he knew how much I loved him, or else he wouldn’t have had to spend so much time shooing me away from him when I tried to hug him in the middle of the sweltering Chicago summer when we had no air conditioning.

I guess sometimes you don’t need to have ‘last’ words. All the other words count just as much.

Anyway I guess that’s how we feel about Breve. And I’m just so sad about it I can’t really think of anything else to write about it, to fully capture our experience with him, what’s great about him, and why we think he’d be better off with a different family. One with no kids or older kids, and a more active dog who wants to play with him more than Illy does.

He needs a lot of training, preferably by a professional, to work through some of his issues. I feel like even if we worked with him over the next year so that he was ok around kids and being alone and didn’t have resource guarding issues anymore, he still would be better off with a more playful dog, and a home with a bigger yard.

Anyway that’s where we’re at right now. I think Breve is leaving us this weekend and I’m brokenhearted over it, even though I am pretty sure it’s the right decision.

I just can’t talk about it too much right now.

- I really love Illy. She is literally the sweetest dog in the world. And I know this is true because everyone who meets her says the same thing, including Breve’s foster mom, who has around 40 dogs living with her right now. So if you don’t believe me, believe her. She’s seen a lot of dogs.

-It is so much fun playing fetch with a dog who really loves playing fetch.

-It is equally nice snuggling with a calm, sleepy dog who just wants her belly rubbed, and doesn’t need to be all up in everyone’s business every second of the day.

- I love watching a dog really enjoy chewing on his bone.

-Training a dog who loves figuring out what the trick is and who wants to please you is endlessly fulfilling. It’s so much fun that even Illy wants to come join in and see what all the excitement is about.

- Having Breve around has made Illy more social, coming downstairs to hang out with us and observe the shenanigans, and sleep on the couch next to me when she is too worn out by a crazy puppy to deal with it anymore.

So far, things with Breve are going pretty well. I’m cautiously optimistic that he will work out for us. Maybe a little more on the cautious side at the moment.

He will go back to his foster mom if he either shows intent to cause the cats harm, or his neurosis starts having a negative effect on Illy’s mental health.

The problem is, he has a pretty decent case of separation anxiety. We keep him crated when we are not actively training him or playing with him. And if one of us leaves the room, he immediately freaks out and starts pawing at his crate, and then starts whining and barking.

Not good.

Especially not good when his freakouts cause Illy to get stressed out. This is unacceptable.

So, we are working on it. We need to tire him out physically and mentally, and then when he’s calm in his crate, leave the room and come right back. And keep doing this, over and over, extending the time we are away, until he trusts that we are eventually coming back and he doesn’t need to freak out about it.

That’s the plan at least. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t mind working with him and getting him to a healthy state of mind where he’s in a good place, but I’m not going to put Illy’s mental health at risk in order to get there with him. There are tons of other families who have shown interest in him and could give him a nice home. So while I have bought him his own leash and collar and food bowl (and treats and bones and on and on), my mindset is that we are just evaluating him, and trying not to fall in love with him so we can make the best decision, for him and for us, about whether he belongs with our family.

Here’s hoping.

We’ve been talking about getting a companion for Illy for a while now, not to mention an actual dog for us since Illy is mostly a cat. I had been sending Aaron pictures of dogs to look at for months, and he had always either dismissed them outright or said something vaguely neutral like, “That seems like a nice dog,” quietly ending the conversation.

Finally I sent him a picture of a border collie mix, around a year old, with slightly longer fur than we typically have been drawn to, but an irresistible face. And to that dog I got, “That’s a forever dog.” And I knew I had him.

We sent in an application, and they liked us! We found out later that this had been a supremely popular dog, but the foster mom liked our application the best so we scheduled a home visit and were invited down to meet him.

So we headed down to Bumpass, VA (true story) and met him, along with about 20 other border collies living at the house. He was more puppy-like than we expected, but Illy seemed to like him and he was beautiful. We were a bit wary about his energy level meshing with Illy’s, and ours, but we decided to take him home for a three week trial. They have our check, so if we like him, he’s ours, but if he doesn’t fit, back he goes.

Illy on the road to meet her possible new brother:

She really is the prettiest, sweetest dog in the world.

And here he is, the Breve Brother:

Showing his true color:

We found out on the way that he likes to bite air. My guess is he’s never had his head in the wind before.

Bitey Breve:

We’re still settling in, so more to come about how we’re faring in a bit…

But when we hit Skyline Drive, we rolled down the windows and were positively chilly in the breeze up there. We became cautiously optimistic that we would be able to sleep in comfort, and I started to regret not bringing anything long-sleeved.

We put up the tent and settled in. The Bru’s arrived shortly after us and we decided to go on a short hike before we got too entrenched (and lazy, at least for me).

Aaron found a nice trail that looped around behind the campsite and ended up behind the ranger station. It was gorgeous.

It was also a little hilly in parts.

So we stopped to rest a lot.

After we got back to the site, we decided we didn’t want to deal with the bugs anymore so we sent the boys off with Lila on a shopping trip for a screened in shelter.

They found one, and Aaron also found himself a nice little cot to lounge on.

It was really comfortable. Too bad he didn’t get to spend a lot of time on it.

Everyone enjoyed it. Pat even slept on it.

I think Illy wants us to set it up in the living room.

Lila looked like she had a great time. She wandered around, played with Illy, and was a perfect little camper.

Illy didn’t even mind getting in and out of the tent this trip.

Eventually we started the fire and had some dinner.

Kelly and Lila hit the sack early, but Pat, Aaron and I stayed up late chatting and making s’mores.

We didn’t actually sleep very well – my back does not like air mattresses, it has decided. I think we might pick up a second cot and see if they can squeeze both of them in our tent for next time.

And now that we’re back in the heat and humidity, I miss the mountains even more. I think it’s time to start planning the next trip!

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy. I love you.

The weather could not have been more perfect all weekend. It was a little muggy, but nothing a dip in the pool couldn’t solve.

(This is from Saturday but there was too much talking and not enough pictures, so here:)

Aaron and I had lunch at Bubba’s, which was divine as usual, and then I did nothing but relax all day. It was perfect.

Saturday was much the same, except this time Aaron joined us and our hour walk on the beach turned into two hours. Illy was completely exhausted by the time we finally got home, which was great since we wanted to try taking her leash off to see if she would run away or stay near us. (The house is on a peninsula and she hates water so she couldn’t go far, but she didn’t know that).

And she did great!! Of course it helped that we had sausage for her when she came to us when we called, but she did come when called. We even let her walk down the driveway and she stayed near us the whole time. That was as much as we were willing to try with her, but it was very encouraging. Now to find bigger fenced areas where we can try again.

Then it was time for jet skis:

Archie goes CRAZY to get on a jet ski, so Dee took him out:

We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and enjoying the beautiful sunset.

We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.

Our gracious hosts:

Hopefully we will make it back down in August, when everyone’s schedules clear up!

It was pretty authentic inside, and had a nice garden area. The bangers were absolutely delicious, and tasted just like I remembered. I had a chicken pot pie which was very good, although a little short on the chicken. It wasn’t exactly cheap, but we knew that going in.

Then we drove around for a little bit and ended up at Barrel Oak Winery to have a glass of wine and take in the nice day. And wouldn’t you know, there was a puppy adoption day going on! Wine and puppies? Heaven!

This little guy was adorable:

But I fell in love with this girl:

If she was a boy, I’m sure we would have taken her home. But I know Illy gets along better with boys, so I had to be strong.

It was tough.

Sigh.

We booked the same hotel as last year, the Hampton Inn, and I headed up Friday night after traffic. Kim, her mom, and Heather had arrived earlier and were just coming back from dinner when I showed up. We went to bed early so we could get up early enough to beat traffic. And beat traffic we did! We left by 8am, took back roads, and didn’t get stuck in one bit of traffic. It was perfect.

It was really nice to be there so early, before the crowds (and heat!) really hit. The vendors aren’t supposed to start selling until 9, but no one paid any attention to that. I made a beeline for the Australian hat guy, and picked up my new best friend:

Kim had her heart set on a Carol Leigh Adjustable 7′ Triangle Loom. Now, Carol Leigh is a wee bit of a celebrity – at least in the loom world. Either that, or we are just a little bit crazy. But Carol Leigh was awesome and took some pictures with us, and Kim got her loom! And yes, Carol Leigh is wearing a poncho she loomed herself. She made sure to point that out to us.

I really hope she calls me to update her website. I’m not even linking it here because it makes me want to claw my eyes out. The woman makes a fantastic loom, but Oy! that website.

We wandered around after that, stopped for some BBQ lamb, and did some more shopping.

And then the heat started to kick in. It wasn’t so bad in the shade, but out in the sun, or in the barns that really didn’t have much ventilation was almost unbearable.

The Juniper Moon Farm group had a meetup at noon. Here’s Maggie:

It was nice to see everyone, but it was far too hot to just be sitting in the sun, so we all wandered off pretty quickly.

In the early afternoon we surrendered to the heat and decided to call it a day. On the way home we stopped at a liquor store and Heather and I spent some quality time in the walk in freezer, cooling off. That was awesome.

After some much needed showers, we headed out to La Palapa Grill for some delicious margaritas. Oh, and dinner.

We went to the Ravelry After Party, but it wasn’t quite a party, so to speak, so we left early (and won’t go again next year).

I had a decent haul this year – I even managed to pick up the print I had longed for last year:

And I leave you with a baby alpaca: