ten seekers caroling!

on most normal weeks, mom and dad would go off to church for a wednesday night group. the groups is called seekers and they are part prayer group, part book club, part support group and part whatever else.

so on the wednesday before christmas, the Seekers group decided to bring some much needed Christmas joy to our house. About 10 wonderful Seekers came a' caroling right in our living room!!

At about 6pm, we could hear the faint singing of Jingle Bells from outside and then upon opening the door, person after wonderful person came piling in to our entry way and living room.


Luckily Wednesday was a good day for Dad and he was able to take a seat on the end of the couch and listen to the joyous singing of some Christmas Carols. We even had some recorder players including 2 1/2 year old Rosalee! After a few carols, Dad began to get a bit tired and so we all moved the celebration to the family room where he could sit in his new recliner and enjoy a warm blanket and prayer shawl (thank you, fellow Askesis employees - that was such a wonderfully thoughtful gift!!).

dad with his prayer shawl. for those of you not in the know, dad has over 2100 ball jars not to mention all the related items and photos and memorabilia!

lily even got in on the caroling. she loved all the action!

After all the carolers left, we were able to sit and enjoy a lovely chicken soup that Denise brought. And for dessert, we enjoyed some ginger snaps and Lowery's chocolates that had been given to us by others. such a meaningful evening to all of us.

kandy kane ball.

one of the year's most fun parties is the kandy kane ball at joe's on weed street. this year it was held on dec 12th and beforehand we had a little preparty at seasonne's house. most of these girls are friends i've met through the junior league and it's always a fun night out with them.

catherine, me, jamie, liz and her friend.

the jlc girls and santa claus!

catherine, me, santa, erika, and amy

there was even a photo booth to play in!

more JLC ladies: catherine, jamie, erika, megan, me, katie, hilary

merry christmas!

no one was quite sure if dad would be strong enough to make it to church on christmas eve and so we took it hour by hour. he had a rough start to the day and wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it. but, thankfully by the time it was time to head out dad felt well enough to get dressed and go. it was a beautiful service and the first time he'd gone anywhere but the doctor/hospital since we went to the lake for thanksgiving. it was a truly special evening. all of their church friends came by to say hello and say how happy they were to see him. it was so touching.

and then the next day, in a not so traditional day in the harper household, we held christmas at the house in houston in stead of at the lake where we've celebrated the past few years since its completion. most of the christmas related items (the tree, ornaments, stocking, decorations) are all stored up there. so it was all about making do this year. and make do we did.

mom had warned ahead of time that she just hadn't been able to get in the present buying mode as things have been slightly stressful around these parts. there's only so much she could handle on her own.

so we got a mini tree from target and decorated it with some sparkly target ornaments. and set everything up in the family room so dad could relax in his recliner. more presents than we could have thought! and a couple kitties in the background checking it all out.

we started the morning with breakfast and a cuddle with the kitten (lily). she is such a good snuggler and loves to be held. she melts in your arms. and if you get tired of holding her, you can pass her to someone else's arms and she won't care one bit! btw, mom's bathrobe is older than me...you can see it in pictures of me as a baby! probably being held the same way this kitten is being held!

since mom mentioned she wasn't doing stockings this year, i took it upon myself to keep with tradition. i love stockings. we have to have stockings. so cvs and walgreens provided the cheapo stockings and stuffers and i even got the scratch off lottery tickets that are always found in the stockings. i can't even remember when they started showing up, but ever since we were little there have been lottery tickets. i'm a sucker for tradition so i had to get those! and i also got us each a powerball ticket. you'll be disappointed to hear that no one won the powerball... oh well. next year!

opening presents...


pyrrh is ever so helpful and watching...

here she is just chilling out on the bar stool. i think she looks so cute ... and so funny when she does this!

dad managed to get mom a present through some online shopping and found her a gorgeous pair of ruby earrings. thank God (and al gore) for the internet!

our little blind kitten (LBK) loved christmas. she had no idea why there was so much fun going on that morning, but she jumped right in and had a blast!

dad opens one of his many presents...

dad got three redneck wineglasses (ball jars stuck to a wine glass base) - apparently it was the present of the year! cheers!

then later in the day, some friends came over for a joint christmas/hannukah celebration. we had the traditional roast beef our family eats and their latkes and other sides. it was a lovely evening with a menorrah and christmas music and so nice to have some friends to join in. afterwards, we all played the dreidel game with pennies. dad was even still up and able to play for a bit. it was such a lovely day for all of us and glad dad was feeling up to being part of it!

otis update!

otis does NOT have cancer!!!!!! OMG, friends, i can't even begin to tell you how relieved i am that my little buddy is going to be ok. it took forever to get his test results back, but it was so worth it to hear that he does not have lymphoma now! doesn't mean he'll never get it, but he is cancer free at this stage of his life.

he has IBD which is inflammatory bowel disease which stinks b/c that means he gets 4 pills in the morning and 4 at night. what a lucky boy - he loves having pills shoved down his throat. yeah... good times! but on the plus side, he's allowed to eat whatever he wants and as much as he can. luckily, with IBD otis can still live a full and long life and as long as it's under control with meds, he'll be just fine.

awww, mom snapped this one over the summer of us napping. we love to snuggle on the couch. and holy moly, that's some cleavage!

my daddy.

it's hard to believe thanksgiving was just a week ago. it seems like a lifetime ago.

you guys all know by now that my dad has kidney cancer and that it has spread to the lymph nodes and likely his lung. we are praying that the bone scans and brain scan come back as negative and that the stupid cancer hasn't spread further.

it's all happened so fast. too fast. funny how fast life changes. mid october dad came home from a work trip not feeling great - he had a cold or something developing in to a cold. i came to houston a few days later and while he was feeling much better, i got the flu. awesome. by the time i was feeling better, he was feeling worse again. and then i went home to chicago and i got sick again. fun stuff. so we all thought dad's fatigue and fevers and cough were leftovers from a cold or relapse... but he just didn't get better. he did work during this time and was tired, but fine-ish. eventually he agreed to see a doc in the box and they said he had pneumonia. maybe he did, maybe he didn't but the drugs they gave him didn't help. by then mom pretty much made him go to the doctor and the doc ordered bloodwork and based off those results a ct scan. the tuesday before thanksgiving, the doc called dad and told him he needed to see him and if mom was available to bring her along. uh oh. and then the devastating news: cancer. a tumor almost as large as his kidney was attached to his kidney. mom called me hysterically crying. until that point, i just thought... oh he needs some drugs and that'll make him better. i'd just seen him... yes, he was a bit sick, but he'd had a cold! i didn't realize how many naps and how much time he was spending in bed and just how sick he'd gotten.

on nov 17th, he was too tired and sick to work (he works from home) and so this was the first day he called in sick. he hasn't worked since. he spends most of the day in bed resting or sleeping. he has just barely enough energy to come down for meals, but then tires out and goes back to bed. occasionally he stays downstairs to watch a bit of tv and sit up for a bit. it's awful to watch.

it's even more awful to see my parents crying together. but it's also so inspirational... wow, there is such a strong love there and to see how much they love eachother is just so amazing... and then it just makes me break down with the what ifs... and i know i can't go there, but i just don't know how my mom would handle the world without my dad. most of you know they met when she was 14 and he was 16. they've been married 38 years.... and together 43. My dad turns 60 next month. that's a whole lot of time together.

the funny thing is... i always thought i'd have to worry more about mom. she's the one who's had several biopsies for breast cancer and is at a high risk for it. I just assumed I'd someday have to help mom through a cancer scare. i just never imagined my dad being the one to get sick.

if there is a best part to all of this, it is the outpouring of love from each and every one of you. you all mean the world to me and your love and support do as well. i couldn't get through this without your words of encouragement.

and the outpouring of love to my parents has been tremendous too. my mom has a strange thing of "oh we don't have many friends and no one will be there"... boy has she been proven wrong. we set the caringbridge site up for dad less than 3 days ago and already there are 50 comments and mom's had too many emails to count. we've had dinner brought over every night this week which has been tremendously helpful since mom is not what we call a cook (yes, i take after her!). they have a strong network of friends, neighbors, and church goers who are all pulling for dad. and that is awesome.

so thanks guys... you are the best.

the domestic goddess.

the second book author series i went to was last thursday evening at the standard club - and it was for martha! and i'll admit, the ticket was pricey (it included her heavy as all heck book) and i'm not the biggest martha fan. in fact i find her rather annoying. perhaps because she is just so much better at cooking, entertaining, decorating, etc than me. but, i went because i love these events and i thought maybe something could rub off on me.


it was a chat style format and to be honest, everything she said was kind of wow, i'm so not like that... and when asked if calories and fat and health be no issue, what would you splurge on... she said, well, i eat very healthy and i don't really crave anything. borrrrrring. but, when she said that her success came later in her life and it really wasn't until she was in her 40s that her first book and her real success began. and i thought, wow, i really really need to hear that right now. i think we hear too about young internet gazillionaires and think something is wrong with us b/c we haven't made our billions by 22. it was just nice to hear that there can be more and there will be more down the road... that inspired me.


her table decorations inspired me too! i really liked the set up.


martha signing. she had really gorgeous shoes on...


so martha-esque. i thought it was such a pretty set up.


signing out big heavy books that i hope will inspire me! she was actually really nice while she signed. i wasn't expecting that. a girl mentioned that her name was alexis and something about daughters and grandaughters and thanksgiving and i can't even remember. i just remember martha saying something about daughters being difficult and me chiming in with that's what daughters are supposed to be! difficult and trouble! and martha agreeing and chuckling.

tragedy.

today i got a phone call from my friend and old coworker, marlene. she asked if i was sitting down. i was. she told me that pat (our old coworker) had been arrested. for the murder of his wife yesterday. WHAT!?!?!?!!?!? no non onononooonooo this is not happening. i am in shock. ABSOLUTE shock. i KNOW this man. REALLY well! and for at least 6 years! marlene had to be wrong about this... it isn't true. it's some other 44 year old man who happens to live in lincroft, nj with the name patrick allen, right?! where'd she get this story?! i'm shaking. with tears in my house. this isn't happening. this isn't true. it can't be.

pat was sort of a boss figure, sort of coworker, mentor and friend to me. he was the outside wholesaler, i was the inside/outside combination wholesaler. we traveled to conferences together. we traveled to properties for tours together. we went to meetings together. a lot. we went on one EPIC 10 day trip to something like 14 different properties and 7 states?! I can't even remember where all we went, but it was all over! i mean, I KNOW THIS GUY WELL! when you spend that much time traveling and driving in cars, you chat. you get to know someone. when i told him i wanted to leave the company and move to chicago, he helped me get a job here. it ended up being a shitty job, but it got me to chicago and it paid well (well, until they no longer made payroll, but that wasn't his fault!). after i lost that job, he helped however he could to help me find another... and when i lost that next job, he would check in periodically and sent me job listings. he was always trying to help.

my very favorite pat story is when we were at a conference in vegas. we were all at the bar and i saw a super cute guy walk in. i mentioned it to pat and the other client/friends that were around us. pat says "do you want me to get him over here?!". i said he's probably gay or married... and all embarrassed, but emboldened by the booze, i said, "umm, ok"... the next thing i know pat's talking to this guy and the guy has some weird expressions (oh hhhhhhh noooo) and then the guy smiles and pat walks back over and says "he'll come over and talk to you in a min". what?! yesssss! "way to go pat!! but um, what the heck did you tell him?" pat says "i asked him if he was gay... and he said unsurely, waaaaaat, why? and then pat says just answer the question... the guy says, no... and pat says, are you married? same answers from the guy... then pat says - you see that girl over there? she thinks you're cute. come talk to her. and the guy says, ok!". i ended up spending the rest of the night hanging out with him. and we hung out the rest of the conference. unfortunately he lived in sf and i was just done with denver boy and another long distance deal seemed dumb at the time. turns out this guy was some hot property because a few years later he's in the news for dating and eventually marrying marissa mayer, google's 3rd employee and super rich chick! dangit. i missed the boat on the hot guy.

marlene had gotten a call from a coworker who'd talked to a previous good client of mine and friend/client of pat's. after searching on the internet and seeing the news articles, i had to make some calls. pat. his cell is disconnected. his office line went straight to vm. ok, email. sent him emails saying please tell me this isn't you. it can't be you. called kenny (my old client/friend and pat's client/friend) who lives in nj. he confirmed. it is THE pat we both know. he didn't have any details for me, but he was every bit as shocked as me. called marlene back. told her it's true. it's all over the internet. pat is being held on 1.5 million dollar bail. they aren't saying how she was killed, who found her, who called 911, or any details. they aren't saying what the evidence is either. nothing. i'm going crazy. i'm in shock. it JUST CAN'T BE. this is some HORRIBLE MISTAKE, right?!

he has two boys - i think they must be like 11 and 13 ish now. those poor boys! they have lost their mom and their dad is in jail. and it's almost thanksgiving! they must be going through hell.


http://matawan-aberdeen.patch.com/articles/homicide-reported-in-lincroft#photo-8488646

http://www.app.com/article/20111119/NJNEWS/311190023/Middletown-man-charged-wife-s-slaying?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

tommy boy.

i've had quite the famous people week. last monday (the 7th), I got to hear Tom Brokaw speak about his latest book over a lovely lunch at the Union League Club.

i had a pretty decent table, but a terrible camera. i've not liked my camera for awhile so i just bought myself a new one - it's due to arrive tomorrow. but, in any case, tom was fabulous. i could listen to him read a phone b0ok. his voice is just so wonderful. and he is so handsome!

happy birthday to... mason!

ok, so this is belated too... considering mason's birthday is 3 days after piper's birthday... and mason's birthday party was actually his bday weekend... well, july was a few hot months ago!

mason's super fun and cute party was held at the LP Zoo!


there were all kinds of decorations for this cute monkey's celebration!


the birthday boy and his momma!


me and the birthday boy. it's a terrible pic of me, but it's the only one i have from the day. he was super busy with all things first birthday related.


his adorable cake! unfortunately i didn't get to see him eat it or taste it myself as i had to leave the party early for my dim sum foray. why do all the good fun things happen in one day?!


i had to include elizabeth's friend whose name escapes me - her son has the most amazing curly dark eyelashes i've ever seen. i can't remember his name either (dev has met them too and maybe remembers?!), but how cute is this kid?


this adorable family will soon be expanding - elizabeth just announced she's preggo with #2!!! can't wait to meet the new family member when he/she decides to arrive!

chicago botanical gardens

during mom's visit for the sir paul concert, we also went to see my aunt and uncle in the northern burbs. we decided to tour the chicago botanic gardens. i'd actually never been before and it was not only gorgeous, but huge!


the four of us: aunt kathy & mom in front and me and uncle chuck in back.












chuck, kathy, and mom across the lily pond.

this is another should visits if you get the chance! it's even free! well, parking isn't, but the rest of it is! and btw, they have a great gift shop.

happy birthday to... the pipes!

so this is a bit delayed considering piper turned 1 in july and had her first birthday party in early august! but, better late than never, right?!


upon coming in to the loft's building, we were greeted with balloons and a cute birthday sign! i of course was late b/c i had to drop a friend at the metra and would have been on time except that i, of course, had forgotten piper's birthday present. dangit! and i had thought i was so on top of things... oh well!


look at these beeee-yoooou-tiii-fuuuuulll cakes. they were just as delicious as you would imagine!


piper's stash of fun new gifts and her momma's excellent decorating skills!


birthday celebraters with the birthday girl!


clapping! cutest family.


this was the best of the bad pics of me and the birthday girl!


and a change of outfits! how minty fresh and cute is this pic with dadda?


shoulder time!


what's this cake thing all about?!


icing... i think it's good. is it all for me?! can i have more?!


yep, it's pretty darn good!


so good, miss piper managed to get it all over her face. and she even dug in with both hands. and then her dadda made piper do some signing and i forget which one it is, but the sign has her put her hands on her cheeks. icing everywhere! it was funny!

piper's first birthday was a huge success! for those of you curious, i got her a baby cell phone (it's plastic folks!). so she won't ruin any more of momma and dadda's and she can make her own very important phone calls to potential bf, mason, who turned 1 3 days after piper and also got his own celly. boy, these kiddos sure are advanced these days!