1. Had a wonderful time at the Guitar Festival opening night at Krannert Center Thursday evening. I was lucky enough to run into good friends I rarely see and score a seat at their table right smack dab in front of Sonny Landreth and Cindy Cashdollar (two incredible, and very tiny I might add, musicians). Sonny Landreth was wonderful and it was a veritable Record Service reunion with Michael and Renee Pollack, Phil Strang, Ernie and me, Mel Farrell, Morgan and Chus Usadel and even some early Record Service people that were before my time…..so all in all a great evening. I gotta say kudos to Krannert….amazing evening for $5 and the wine was even pretty cheap (and yet better quality than I drink at home….not saying much I know).
2. Saturday morning we dropped the guys off at Saturday Art school and headed out to breakfast. We have returned to our survey of breakfast spots in C-U. This may kill us if we keep it up but we haven’t done it for awhile so we felt entitled. We order the same thing at every new place so we can judge fairly—-two eggs over easy, hash browns and sausage. Normally one would expect two eggs……Sammy’s on North Prospect overwhelmed us with FOUR eggs, a gargantuan portion of hash browns which were nicely crispy and two big pieces of sausage. We had Greek toast on the side instead of pancakes. I gotta say, the toast—which I usually ignore—-was really good and when we asked for hot sauce we had our choice of Tabasco or Cholula. Had a carafe of water and lemon on the table, service was quick and friendly and it was pretty cheap. I still miss Carmon’s sausage–it was never spicy enough but with hot sauce it was sublime—-and the sausage was the only weak spot here. Overall….pretty impressive.
3. After breakfast we had about half an hour to kill so we went over to Techline which was hosting an exhibition of stringed instruments—everything imaginable really—-as part of the Wall 2 Wall festival. Ohhhh, man was that fun. My Ernie was WAY happy….
Of course they don’t have a ham-ulele….perhaps we should offer it up for next year….
4. After picking up the guys from art class (evidently one of the little girls likes Owen as she painted the back of his shirt orange and hugged him before he left….) we decided on a picnic at Allerton. It has been way too long since we’ve been to Allerton and I was positively thirsty for it. Ernie and I were too stuffed to eat but we packed lunches for the boys (grapes and bottled water for us and I couldn’t even manage that….). We had a wonderful time—-gorgeous day, gorgeous place and my gorgeous guys….
the picnic (this picture cracks me up):
waiting for oh-so-slow parents:
5. After that we of course had to stop at the Monticello Railway Museum because it’s on the way…..so all in all a full day. Came home, sat in the yard, cooked short ribs because I wanted to cook something fall like and then went to bed at 8:30—before the boys even—-and slept for TEN hours. The perfect amount of sleep for me. Laugh if you want….if I go to bed when I want and wake up when I want….it’s usually ten hours….. So a good weekend was had. Owen came to church with Dad and me today and he really does have a way of lighting things up…
7. In other news Leo retested for the gifted program and passed. However there’s a waiting list as the class is full. Of course at this point I’m not sure how I feel about the whole thing but I was glad to see him pass as both his teacher and his totally biased parents had thought him capable of it. So we’ll see.
8. My father started physical therapy. They ordered him a walker. Ernie picked it up and brought it over. My father promptly stored it behind the bathroom door and is ignoring it.
9. This week I think my mother only has a couple of appointments for MRI’s. Perhaps things will start to settle down…..
10. I have a busy and semi-stressful week ahead of me so I’m going back out into the yard where we have worked this afternoon for the first time in seemingly forever. Planted a hydrangea I’m excited about…cross your fingers it does well……
11. Oh, and my sister Judi was here but I’m saving that for another post……
Oh — I was at the guitar festival Thursday night at Krannert, too! A friend invited me; we mostly sat outside and heard some nice music by a Hawaiian guy. I ate some spinach-artichoke dip from “the historic Lincoln hotel” — not memorable. Shoulda had the BBQ.
Good luck on the hydrangea; I adore them.
And I will have to try Sammy’s on Prospect. Isn’t there one by the County Market on Kirby, too? We went there a few years ago; I remember it being OK . . .