Here you go Aimee

I was threatened to write a blog entry, so here I go.

I had a great time at home this weekend. I got in about 10 CST to the Bloomington Airport. Gotta love an airport with only 8 gates. My Aunt picked me up and drove me back to my brother Greg's new house. I had never been in it since he purchased it. It was awesome. Makes our place look like a tiny ghetto-dump. Eh, we still call it home. Greg was having a weiner-roast, i.e. sit around the campfire and roast hot dogs and hang out. He had a bunch of friends over. I had fun talking with them. Oh yeah, and my family was there, so we had a joyful reunion.

Saturday was a lazy day. We went to East Peoria to a cute little tea room (Emerald Tea Room, I think). The food was excellent, and the decor was cool. It's decorated Civil War style. Next we headed to the nursing home to see my Grandma. She was at her best, all ornery like. I enjoyed seeing her. For dinner, my Mom, Dad, and I went to our favorite German Restaurant. Ohhhhhhh yeah. The Hofbrau of Peoria. Mmmmmm.... I had the rouladen, and, of course, the Oktoberfest brew on tap. We took off to the Peoria Riverfront and walked around for a while before meeting up with the rest of the family at Leonardo's, the best pizza place in town. Applegate and Co. were playing their unique style of bluegrass/blues. My family are possibly their biggest fans. Every time I come home we go to see them play. My Dad requests songs, my sister Katy sits right in front of the guitars and stares. I have trained her well.

Sunday was church. Haven't had a donut in a while. That was good. After church we went to my younger brother Tim's barbershop concert. They did a great job. I actually started some craziness. The majority of the fans there were pushing 90+ in age. Needless to say, the clapping was minimal. When my brother got on I started howling at the top of my lungs. When the next group came out, the rest of the old people started cheering more loudly. I even heard a wolf whistle. I was so proud.

We ate dinner at home. Steaks. Yeah. Nothing like beef from the farm. My Mom made a chocolate cake for me. I love being spoiled. After dinner a bunch of my cousins came over and we chatted up the night. They left around 10, and we finished out the night with a rousing game of Scrabble.

Monday Mom, Sheila, A. Diane, and I went shopping at the Bloomington mall. We got Mom to buy some new clothes, and I got a few things for myself. I had a little shoe store incident. I had this sales person running about, finding me the perfect pair shoes. I called Nate up and asked him if it was okay to spend $80 on a pair of work shoes. He asked me what brand they were, and I told him. My husband proceeds to go online and find them half price. I felt terrible. The poor sales person. He did take it well, but I still felt bad. Not bad enough to buy them for $80 instead of $40, but my conscience did feel pricked ; )

I guess that brings us to this week. My last day at Deloitte was today. I turned in the badge, gave up the ghost! Today I've been cleaning frantically, trying to make the house look nice when my Mother gets here tomorrow. Nate and I don't exactly keep it at Karen B. standard.

Okay, Aimee I hope you are happy. That took me a while ; )