Memorial Day, Sailing and Gardening (posted by Ann)

Memorial Day was fabulous. I know I've posted since then, but I didn't tell you anything about it so I have to get caught up! We couldn't fly on Saturday because of weather, but we did get out early Sunday morning. It was hard IFR conditions for the first leg of the flight, which isn't my favorite, but we got through fine. We had a great time once we got there swimming in the pool, playing with Alex, and visiting with Laurie, Mom and Dad. It was great but too short. I'd love to get back down there this summer, so we'll see whether we can make that work or not. We took pictures while we were there, but I can't find them. I think I may have erased them from the camera by accident!

On the home front, Don built trellis for my pea vines. I'm afraid I planted a bit too late this year, and we've had hot weather early, so the peas aren't doing as well as they might. We'll see, though, they were blockbusters last year and totally weighted down the minimal trellis I put up. With the Don Johnston Engineered-To-Withstand-Large-Animals-and-Other-Calamities trellis, I don't think the peas have a chance. (Ignore all the weeds, please. I'm working on it.)

I also have romaine, and other lettuces. (again with the weeds . . ) We are having salads out of the garden, but this year I have an infestation of earwigs. I don't know why they like my lettuce so much, or why they give me the creeps but they do on both counts. The lettuce is worth the fight, though.

I was having bad luck with sailing until this past week. I had two sailing trips that cancelled because of bad weather, but then I took a group out this past Tuesday and we had a good time. Nice winds, 3 foot seas so there was something going on, and good company. The only downsides were that I forgot my camera, and that it was really cold. Not just chilly, cold. The low that night was in the 40s, and it felt like it was 50 on the water. I had on a sweatshirt and jeans, so I was okay, but one of my guests wore shorts and a T-shirt. Someone loaned him a sweatshirt, but his toes were turning blue! We came back in right at sunset, because you could feel the temperature dropping and even I have my limits.

Then, on Friday, I unexpectedly got the boat and Steve came downtown on the train to crew for me. I wasn't sure it was going to work because we had bad storms Thursday night, and it was still calling for a lot of wind. Well, you can't trust the forecast. I think this picture says it all.

Yes, that's really us playing Spite and Malice on the water. There was No Wind. None. We still managed to have a good time, but we sure weren't going anywhere! We did see the tall ship Windy, which lives at Navy Pier. She was out there bobbing around with us. In this picture she was motoring, which is the only reason her flags were standing out from the masts.

The Blues Fest is in Chicago this weekend, and if you look in the center you can see that the Blue Cross Blue Shield building is spelling out "The Blues". That shot is from my mooring. The tall building in the center of the picture is Aon Center, where I work. I can see the boat from my office (if I contort myself around the furniture and plaster myself to the window, that is).

Last night Steve went to a Relay For Life at his school. It started at 6pm, and lasted until 6am. When Don picked him up this morning he said he had slept for about an hour, so he went right to bed. I just went in and tried to wake him up and he informed me that he ran 20 miles last night and needed his sleep, thank you very much. 20 miles. Now, he's in good shape, but 20 miles is a long way and I think the longest he's done up until now is around 8. Maybe 10, but definitely no where close to 20. Wow. I feel a marathon coming on . . .

I am cooking up a storm today, with Jerked Pork Chops and Pineapple/Mango Chutney on the menu this week. Yum. No travel again this week for either of us, and again I'm afraid to say anything for fear that I'll jinx it. I think July might make up for this hiatus, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Speaking of travel - I've been wondering how much you are working, and what your schedule is like. What's a typical month look like?