Back home and back at it...

We had a lovely weekend in the Windy City for Grandma Mac's 100th Birthday party. We picked up Heather, Jamie and Bernadette Fine in Yellow Springs along the way and drove with them to Chicago. We had a great time as the whole MacDonald clan was present. Mom and Dad brought Mike, and Steff, Clayton, Summer and River came in on the train. We all stayed at the Staybridge Suites and even got to have a mini-Xmas on Saturday morning. Then we had Gram's party at Friendship Village which was a fun 4-hour affair with lots of entertainment (like Mike Irish step-dancing), a super slide show and a hearty meal. After the party, Eric and I detoured to IKEA to pick up a few things for the abode: the kitchen faucet for the farmhouse sink we got there in April, a cabinet for the bathroom sink that's from there, some lights for the "groove room" (AKA the den) and other assorted little stuff like curtains. After a weekend of fun, we dropped the Fines off at Midway at 6AM this morning and hit the road for home ourselves. Eric has a trial tomorrow and Tuesday for which he has been diligently preparing (reading depositions, writing arguments, etc) all last week and on the whole ride up and back. We got home about 2PM and he headed straight for the office. I grabbed a new gallon of paint from Sherwin Williams and finished up the second floor hallway for good (after a break for dinner). The Reno's stopped by for a weekly tour and were kind enough to help us move the mahogany flooring that was abandoned in our living room by our missing porch contractor to the second floor so that the hardwood refinishers (that they recommended) can get straight to work in the morning. I'm meeting them there at 8AM and can't wait to report how day one goes!