family – Page 12 – Lemon Drop Pie

A couple of weeks ago, I started writing this blog post and didn’t finish it. My mornings aren’t usually this busy! Today was a typical morning for me; I got up after I had hit the snooze button a couple of times, drove Lily to orchestra, walked Emmy to school and drove myself to work. I even managed to put roast beef in the crock pot for dinner! But every once in while, things get crazy around here….

This morning (October 28), I couldn’t sleep. I rolled out of my warm bed into the cold bedroom at 5:45 to have a cup of coffee with Ed before he left for work. I usually don’t even hear him leave, even though my alarm is set for six. But I was anxious this morning because our furnace had quit on us the night before. Fortunately, it was a good time for the furnace to break. The low temperature was only on the 50s, so the house stayed fairly warm, dropping down to 64 degrees. Not so bad; could be worse!

At 7:00, I went to wake up Lily. Her room was still pitch black and I hated to do it, but I had to drive her over to the middle school for orchestra in 45 minutes. After I made sure Lily was up, I hopped in the shower so I could actually have dry hair before we got in the car.

What happened next was a whirlwind of accomplishment…not my usual thing in the morning. I dropped off Lily at orchestra and when I got home I called our furnace company to come fix the heat. It’s Pumpkin Patch day at the girls’ school, and both Lily and Emmy decorated pumpkins. I loaded both pumpkins into our little red wagon, and Emmy and I walked to school with them bumping behind us. It was rainy, so Emmy made sure the plastic garbage bag I placed over the painted pumpkins stayed in place.

With both girls where they needed to be, I lowered the third row of seats in my van so I had more room. I carried an old stereo system and two antiquated printers up from the basement and loaded them into the back of the van. I had had carpool duty the night before, or I would have put them in the car sooner! It’s the last Wednesday until Spring when I could drop off electronics for recycling at the Village Public Works building, and I was determined to make it there!

After sweating in my raincoat just a bit, I finally departed for work. Everything else that day went smoothly. My electronic were recycled, the technician ordered parts to fix our furnace, and each daughter received a participation ribbon for their pumpkins.

Phew! Are your mornings usually hectic? Or do you follow a smooth routine? I’m glad that every morning is not like that morning was!

Wishing you a Good Morning and a strong, hot cup of coffee.

For Columbus Day weekend, Ed and I decided to take a little trip for our anniversary. We thought it would be fun to take a trip to Springfield to see the Lincoln sites, even though Emmy protested because she “doesn’t like to learn things on vacation.”

Even though the girls had a three day weekend off from school, they didn’t have an early dismissal. So of course we had a little delay getting out of town due to the infamous Chicago rush hour traffic. When we were finally south of Joliet, we started looking for a place to eat. You know my Ed; he likes to eat at local places. So when we saw a sign for the Whistle Stop Cafe, we had to try it. I thought it sounded interesting because it has the same name as the cafe in one of my favorite books, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Even though I didn’t see fried green tomatoes on the menu, it was a charming small town cafe!

We arrived at our hotel in Springfield late that night, and went promptly to bed so that we would be able to explore the capital the next day. It was pretty quiet the next morning when we arrived, and we discovered that street parking is free on the weekends! I had brought along blank pieces of paper and pencils for the girls to do rubbings of the medallions that are all over the downtown area. They are on plaques called “Looking for Lincoln,” and Lily and Emmy had fun finding new plaques all day.

I have wanted to visit the “new” Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum ever since it opened. I read an article about it in the paper and it sounded like a great place to visit. Well, it turns out the museum is already ten years old! There are some amazing exhibits, and the museum was great for kids and adults. While Emmy did get bored while Ed and I were reading some of the exhibit signs, she really enjoyed the movies. (Don’t miss the movies! The special effects are very cool!) I loved how the exhibits were divided into two parts; the left side of the museum was Lincoln’s early life and his time in Springfield; the right side was Lincoln’s years in the White House.

We spent about 3 hours in the museum and felt like that was plenty of time to see most of the exhibits. Then it was time for lunch (I had a horseshoe) and a visit to Lincoln’s Springfield home. The National Park Service has taken over Lincoln’s old neighborhood, and we needed to stop by the Visitor’s Center first to get our tickets to tour the house. The tickets are free, and they assign you a time and a tour guide.

Our last stop for the day was Lincoln’s tomb. We made it just in time; the inside of the tomb closes at 5:00 p.m.