Back to Reality

I headed back to work today, after a wonderful week of vacation......

Gillian and I had a terrific week. The weather was more than cooperative, which is amazing, considering this is Iowa, and we often have snow on the ground this time of year! We spent lots of time outside, and really enjoyed our screened-in porch. You know what's so nice about warm weather this time of year? No bugs!

So, we spent the first part of the week at home, being lazy, doing a little shopping and a lot of reading. Gillian read Twilight in just a few days. She was THAT hooked. I read a couple of books: a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury, and an interesting novel called The Cradle, by Patrick Somerville.

We headed to Illinois on Thursday. We spent Thursday and Friday morning with my folks. My sister came over for dinner on Thursday, and my nephew Tony and his wife, Aime also came to see us for a bit. That was wonderful. Aime, my newest niece, is great, and she is great for Tony. I love my family. We didn't do anything special, Gillian helped Mom make a pineapple upside down cake, we had dinner, and spent a great deal of time laughing. Gillian was very entertaining.....it was all very life affirming and happy.

We headed to Aurora/Naperville on Friday. First to my best friend Janice's. We hung out for the afternoon, and got ready for the party before taking Gillian to her friend's in Naperville. Gillian was so excited to spend time with her camp friend! They had so many plans and I think they hit everything they wanted to do.

Janice had a Lia Sophia party Friday evening. A friend of her is starting to sell Lia Sophia, so Janice had a party for her to start her new business. It was great to meet some of her friends, and we had wine and very good food and lots of fun.

On Saturday we went looking for a new dog for Janice. She lost her lovely Bailey a few weeks ago, and it was time to get a new dog. We ended up at the Kane County Animal Control, and Janice fell in love with a beautiful dog there. He is part German Shepherd and maybe part Australian sheep dog or collie? Anyway, he is beautiful, needs lots of love, and the two of them bonded almost immediately.

We spent the rest of Saturday in Geneva, had lunch at The Little Traveler (I thought of you, Johanna!), shopped at Trader Joe's, spent lots of time out on Janice's deck in the warm sunshine, and had dinner at Meson Sebika, a wonderful Spanish tapas restaurant in Naperville. It was a great day.

We were very lazy on Sunday, and Gillian and I drove home in the afternoon. Had a relaxing evening at home and get ready to re-enter the real world.

It was a good week of vacation. And the re-entry into the real world didn't hurt as much as I expected!