Curious cat

The police were parked on the side of our house the other day, standing on the sidewalk, questioning what appeared to be a homeless man. Even Muffles was curious as to what to going on and stretched to be able to see outside.

Last blooms of summer

This is all that's left blooming in our garden - Black-eyed Susans ...

and Phlox.

Black Sheep Club

Andy, two of his coworkers and a friend from church all met up this morning at Black Sheep Golf Club in Sugar Grove to play. They won the outing in a charity auction. I had no idea today was the day until Andy came downstairs in his golf clothes. I thought that seemed too casual for work. It's ranked one of the nation's top 100 golf courses. They look pretty excited, don't they? Skipping work and playing golf? Score!

Andy and church friend, T, who's a fellow golfer. He scored the lowest with a 94. Andy had a 99. The other two scored 112.

Andy in his happy place.

Teamwork

L rented a Redbox movie yesterday with her new debit card and while returning the movie tonight, found this desk in the alley. She couldn't drag it home alone, so she enlisted B's help. Suprisingly, the two of them got it inside. Now to get it to her room ...

Debit card

Patiently waiting to open her student bank account and get a debit card.

Date night

After 25 years of passing Su Casa Mexican Restaurant to eat at Pizzeria Due, Andy and I finally went there. We've been saying we should try it for all those years and tonight was a perfect weather-wise night to be in Chicago. And we sat outside so we could watch all the people go by. It's quite a show. Andy had the carne asada and I had the beef fajitas.

Me and L

Hard to believe L is in her first week of high school. She took this selfie with me before her eighth-grade graduation.

Feed me

Muffles thinks if he leaves me a cat toy, he'll get more food. He was right.

And he's a senior

It's B's first day of his senior year! Where has the time gone?

And it's L's first "real" day of high school. She said kids were stopping her in the halls yesterday asking if she's B's sister. She also said my friend N's daughter was her tour guide yesterday and she recognized her too. Maybe the school isn't so big after all.

First day(s)

It's freshman-only day at OPRF!

L, like all the freshmen, came home with a welcome shirt. This is the back ...

and this is on the front.

And even though E has been at college for more than a week already, she starts classes today. She even sent me a selfie to start her sophomore year.

Our super 'Supernatural' fan

L couldn't imagine going back to school without a "Supernatural" Day T-shirt. Apparently, they're only available online so she spent some back-to-school money on it and a whole bunch of accessories - all "Supernatural"-related, of course.

This little guy is now hanging on her ID lanyard. It's Castiel from the show. She dressed up like him for a convention she went to in March.

I think this is my favorite thing she purchased. It's a necklace with interchangeable "Supernatural" charms.

And she loved her new bracelets so much she tore them out of the package and put them on right away. I'm not liking the b-tch one, but she claims it's no big deal. We'll see whether she gets asked to take that one off during school.

Weird nature

A few years ago, we bought some money plants from a mail-order nursery and planted them outside our fence. They never grew. Then, a week or so ago, Andy noticed two money plants growing in the gangway between us and the neighbors, far away from where they were originally planted.

More friends

This was what was left after B and his friends attacked a stadium pizza tonight. That's an 18-by-26-inch pizza. We thought he was out for the night when he drove over to a friend's house, but he returned an hour or so later with two friends. Then his friend IB knocked on the door and came in, followed by four girls. What is going on? They were all playing video games downstairs when B asked if we could order a pizza. I think one girl had to leave before the pizza arrived. Nice, hungry kids.

L's new love

... and it's a serious relationship.

Pictures and books

B had his senior pictures taken this morning so I had Andy tie three ties before he left for work. B chose to wear the red one. He wore his suit and then switched into a T-shirt and jeans for the casual pictures. We should have the proofs in two weeks.

While B was getting his pictures taken, L was at the high school picking up her books, getting her schedule and locker assignment and having her ID made.

And here's the new Chromebook all the students received this year. Pretty fancy with the imprinting. B had been unpacking these computers all summer long at his tech job.

Left behind

E has been nurturing this bonsai plant since the beginning of her freshman year of college. She had it sitting on our window sill all summer and in the flurry of packing, forgot it. Hope we can keep it alive in her absence.

Application season

The Common App for college is open and the college mail continues to come for B. He was surprised when he brought the mail and there was not one, but four, postcards from DePaul. Maybe they should consider creating a brochure?

Move-in day

Muffles wasn't quite ready for E to head back to college today.

But we managed to get her all packed up and ready to go by 10 a.m. She moved in two days earlier than scheduled, but Andy didn't want to take time off work to drive down on Tuesday. And it was a lot less hectic moving her in early although we have to pay for those two extra days.

After one trip to her room we lucked out and were able to borrow a cart from the front desk. We were able to put everything that was left in the car in the cart, including the refrigerator, so we didn't have to make any more trips to her room.

This fall is the first semester any students are living in the new dorm, Wassaja. Everything was so new and clean. It looks like a hotel. Here's the lobby/study area on her floor. Purple is the color theme on her floor.

And here she is standing outside her room. There are six rooms of two students each in her "pod." Two rooms will have girls and four will have boys. There are four, individual restrooms to use among them all.

The room seems very spacious compared to last year's dorm.

Then we took a lunch break at ate at Black Dog BBQ. Tasty and we only had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. E said the wait can be up to two hours.

When we got back to her dorm, she realized she left the light on in her room. I tried to get a funny picture of her pointing to her room. It's right above her finger on the second floor. She wasn't too happy about posing even though no one was around.

And her bed is made. She's so excited she'll be the first one to sleep in that bed and use that room. Here's to a good year!

Ms. Mixer

Look who got up early this morning to go along with Andy for the first doughnut-making shift. E had the job of the mixer. She came home, took a shower, then fell to sleep. Andy too.

Hiding from the storm

Another Ohio visit

B's friend, L, who moved to Ohio after sixth grade, came back for a visit! His last visit was a year ago - too long. His dad dropped him off yesterday afternoon and he's staying with us till tomorrow morning. Here they are playing video games.

Our house has been full of boys (young men, actually) for the last two nights. They're here for a while, then they take a walk, then they're back. L volunteered to call and order pizza for them for dinner tonight. She was pretty proud of herself, even remembered to mention that we had a $5 off coupon!

And here's a pic L took of all of us watching the Olympics and eating pizza.

Tired

E and August took a nap after she came home from work.

Family pizza dinner

This hasn't happened too often this summer - all five of us out for dinner for no particular reason. We went downtown to Pizzeria Due tonight. The weather was perfect. We had to wait outside for about 25 minutes for a table to be ready. It was perfect people-watching weather. I could sit downtown and watch people all day.

L and B shared the meatball appetizer, two quarter-pound meatballs in marina sauce. Andy grabbed a couple bites too.

And here's me with my college girl who goes back to school Sunday. We probably won't see her back home until Thanksgiving.