Baby Maebe

It's official, Maebe, our new Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier came to Chicago to stay with us until, well, our 40's...yowza!

That small fact aside, we had a great first day with our new pup. We picked her up and she went right from her crate into Andy's arms, no questions asked. She couldn't stop following me around the yard and house all day long. We think she's in love and you know what, the feeling is mutual.

We both grew up with dogs in our home so we knew it was only a matter of time before we took this step. Maebe's personality was on display throughout the day and we were thrilled to find that she's energetic, fun, curious and loving.

As you can see from the pictures, she is big on napping near either one of us.

We're looking forward to the challenge of adding a puppy to our household and the companionship that she will bring for years to come. So here's to you Maebe...Chicago is getting a foot of snow in your honor tonight. Welcome to the Northern Midwest, we hope you like it because you're stuck with it and us.

Greeting Cards are Almost Sent...

Tonight Andy and I sat down to work on Christmas cards. I have to say we are a "modern" day couple for all intents and purposes. I wrote out street addresses managing from the "Z's" up while looking up street addresses on our shared google address book on our PC in the back room. Meanwhile, Andy sat in the living room on his laptop looking at the same list managing it down from the "A's."

And to think I can still remember my mom sitting at the kitchen table for hours on end writing her addresses from her little cream colored address book, with faded purple flower accents. I wonder if she ever traded that in for a new one... Mom?

Okay, all modern stuff aside, I have to admit I was overcome with a small bit of emotion this evening while writing these names and street addresses. Writing Jefferson Street made me think fondly of my Grandmother Gerle and the Kusnierz family and all of the gatherings we had between houses in New Castle.

The last name Schragal made me grin, just thinking of my Grandmother Wroblewski's brothers and their nicknames. Let's see, there was Uncle Pickles who could dance up a storm and Uncle Moon who had the best swimming pool. To this day, I still can hear my Grandma calling my Dad "Moxie." Don't ask me how or why it came to be, I'll leave that up to my Dad...but nicknames ran rampant.

Even just writing some of the state names - Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois - these are all places that influenced and are still impacting my life. Not to mention all of the friends that we picked up along the way.

Needless to say, there is always a small piece of my heart that longs to be young again to relive some of the memories that I hold so dear. I only hope to replicate the values and traditions that were handed down to me by family and friends.

So as addresses change and people move on from this world, one thing is certain - Christmas is a special time of year, good for reflection of Christmases past and Christmases future.