Here's To Life!

Wedding weekend at last!  Mom and Carolyn arrived on Wednesday - Joy and Dan, Anna and Daniel arrived on Thursday afternoon - John and Lee, Ellen and Harry arrived Friday morning.  Good to have the whole family here.  Just as the rehearsal started on Thursday a big rain storm came through Oak Park - with a little microburst - trees down, thunder and lightning - rehearsal started a little late.  Dinner was at Skrine Chops in Forest Park - in their party room upstairs - turned out very nice, plenty to eat and all went well - there were probably 30 people there.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  I think we threw a pretty good party! The wedding was wonderful.  Many people said it was the most fun they had had at a wedding.  Sasha was a beautiful bride - John was a beaming groom.  The weather cooperated turn - we stood outside and greeted friends, and took pictures before the ceremony.  The ceremony was nice - and included two Mexican...

So, June was a great month!  John graduated from Tribeca Flashpoint on June 8th - ceremony was at the Harris Theater with a reception afterwards.  We were proud parents.  John and Sasha threw a graduation party at their home in the afternoon with lots of their friends and family there.  Good fun. Sasha received her masters from DePaul the next Saturday - the ceremony was held at the Rosemont Theater.  We went out for dim sum in Chinatown afterwards to celebrate.  We managed to celebrate Father's Day and my birthday as well. And then, there was the wedding!

Somehow with the summer and the wedding in June and buying a house in July, going on vacation and moving - I haven't written in here like I meant to during the year.  Now I will have to play catch up.  Will have to start that tomorrow - so many things happening.  Wedding, house closing, vacation, moving, vacation, start of school, stuff going on, Thanksgiving, my brother John not doing well.  Will have to take a piece at a time and start writing.  So tomorrow we will start where we left off - in the month of June getting ready for a wedding.  At least I have pictures!

Here it is - June! June this year is not just birthdays and Father's Day - but graduations and a wedding!  So, we are going to let the celebrating begin. Yesterday Kristin and I attended Sasha's wedding shower and were pleased to meet many members of Sasha's family as well as some of her friends.  John graduates from Tribeca Flashpoint next Saturday and besides the graduation celebration and reception he and Sasha are throwing a party to celebrate.  Sasha receives her Master's Degree from DePaul University the following Saturday.  Father's Day falls in there as well as my birthday that next week. The wedding is at the end of the month and we are happy that so many of our family and friends are going to be able to celebrate with us. More later!

Yes - that is right - we bought a house - in Elmwood Park.  Closing is set for July 8th and we will move in sometime in August - if all goes well. We looked at lots of houses in Elmwood Park, Galewood (a Chicago neighborhood) and condos in Forest Park and Oak Park.  After looking at condos for the most part, we decided that we were better off buying a small house, which is what we did.  We looked at this one last Sunday, made an offer on Monday and it was finalized on Saturday.  Happy anniversary to us!

What a week it has been.  Nice weather, cold weather, rain and flooding!  School was actually closed for a day this week because of flooding - buses could not operate.  It has been a weird spring - it still feels like it should be March - weather wise - it is chilly and cold though today at least the sun is shining.  We get a warm day or two and then the temperatures drop again and it is cloudy and gray.  I am looking forward to nicer, more normal spring days.  It is the middle of April after all. I spent my school spring break visiting my mother on Cape Cod.  My brother and family were there as well.  It was a pleasant week with sunny days though chilly.  We drove out to the National Seashore one day to look at the erosion of the beaches after all of the recent storms.  I also did a little clothes shopping and found a dress to wear to John's and Sasha's wedding.   Learned how to play Mexican Train, a game my brother and family li...

Here it is - the beginning of March and we are having a major snowstorm.  It has been snowing all day - we should get 6 to 10 inches.  I walked to and from work - it was a regular winter wonderland.  Glad I cancelled my meeting for this evening - it is a good night to stay indoors.

Seafarers and International House (SIH) is a Lutheran mission for seafarers and sojourners.  It is one of the ministries of the ELCA and is located in New York City in lower Manhattan.  SIH is an 84-room hotel where many of its mission activities to seafarers, domestic violence victims, immigrants and travelers take place.   It is here where the Lutheran community can be a church at work – with meeting rooms and guest rooms.   Port chaplains board merchant ships while in port and bring needed items (international phone cards, WI-FI hubs for international communication) to seafarers and when allowed, can take them shopping, to see a doctor or dentist, or just come ashore. From 1984 to 1993, my father served as the executive director of SIH.   In December, they dedicated the newly renovated second floor of the hotel and named it the Rev. J. Gordon Swanson Center in honor of his tenure there.   My mother, my siblings and o...

What a trying end of January.  There was a gas issue in our condo unit the last Sunday of January.  It turns out the pipe bringing gas to our unit had a hole in it larger than a quarter.  It was not a Nicor problem but our gas was turned off immediately.  So, no heat, no hot water, no cooking.  And it is winter and cold outside.  A week and a half later we again have heat, hot water and gas for cooking.  Somehow, there was no sense of urgency to get our gas problem fixed, it seemed.  Three bids were required by the condo association which were gotten in a couple of days - but then it seemed to take a couple more days before they decided which contractor to hire to fix the issue.  Then it was a few more days before the contractor could get started, a part needed to be ordered and the problem was finally fixed after 9 days.  We are thankful for our friends who put us up for many nights and to those who lent us space heaters.  Of cours...