Donuts on Halloween

This picture turned out lighter than it was when I got to church at 4 a.m. Saturday for my donut frosting shift. Andy was frying donuts Friday night, came home and slept about three hours, then was back to captain the first shift. He was there at 1:30 a.m. for his 2 a.m. shift. Oy.

Our stellar crew. Not the best picture of me but I was up at 3:30 a.m. so it is what it is.

Love when my relief shows up a bit early!

We went home and napped until B called. We figured we'd sleep all day if we didn't get out of the house so we did some shopping. We picked up a pizza for dinner and they gave us some trick-or-treat candy. Being out we successfully avoided the trick-or-treaters at home.

I'd say my find of the day was this Melissa & Doug checker/backgammon board for $2. And it has all of the checkers! It was wrapped up tightly in plastic so I took a chance. It's pretty so I might hang it on the wall in L's old room. Now to get Andy to play with me.

Andy at Club 33

Andy's recent work trip took him to California and his client belongs to Disney's exclusive Club 33.

So the client invited Andy and coworkers to dinner at the club.

It was a prix fixe menu and crazy expensive.

A Haunted Mansion decoration for Halloween, I assume?

Fancy.

He brought home fancy chocolate and some souvenirs from the gift shop. I might be able to post more pictures if he gets them from his coworker.

And speaking of Disney, here's L all dressed up for Halloween. The client said he'd take L to Club 33 if she ever gets to Disneyland. She would love that.

Halloween treats

Andy's office had its annual Halloween party the other day. He forgot to dress up. Anyway, he brought home two caramel apples. The big bottle of wine was a gift from a coworker who is leaving and moving to another state.

More mahjong ducks

Andy and I came back from mahjong Monday with three more ducks for our combined collection. Andy won two games and I won one.

It was nice to have our friend Nancy join us. She bought herself a set so maybe we'll play on our own if we can get her husband interested.

Last crop day

Another crop day, another gift waiting for me at my station Sunday morning - stickers and a fall car coaster.

I finished our Key West 2025 vacation pictures.

Darla won the 10 a.m. "in your seat" drawing!

Group picture.

And the big group picture (minus Darla and Alice).

On the drive home Cindy took me down Staunton's Main Street. This is a new mural.

Andy had no dinner planned so we went to Magarita's. I don't recall ever seeing a Day of the Dead shrine there before so that was neat.

Delicious as usual.

Residential Chicago

An added bonus of Open House Chicago is walking through neighborhoods and seeing the houses, murals, oddities and Halloween decorations. It helped that we had a perfect fall day on Saturday.

This is (the backside) od the Clarke House, considered the oldest house in Chicago. It's a museum but wasn't on the Open House tour.

It's not every day (and never in the suburbs) you see a city-owned street sweeper decorated for the White Sox. I wonder if there are Cubs street sweepers on the North Side?

This is a neat mural. I'm not sure where this was - Oakley and maybe Division Street? We ended up walking over six miles that day.

Sign supporting Ukraine.

Our afternoon goal was to tour the Ukranian Village neighborhood. I kept asking if we were in the neighborhood since there are no real border distinctions, but then we saw a sign. We were on the far edge of the neighborhood at this point. Such cute houses and lots of Ukranian flags.

Another pretty mural.

I liked these "fish" door handles at St. Helen Roman Catholic Church. Details impress me.

Even the skeletons are rooting for the Bears.

Skeletons were all over this house ... and what a cute house.

This was a bit too realistic. I thought there was a real person on the porch until I got closer. Creepy.

A skeleton and a political sign.

Football and tombstones

We had a busy, fun Sunday. Our first stop was golfer John's house for a Bears football game potluck lunch with the other golfers and their spouses. Here I am with the golf wives. I made an apple salad.

Andy and I had to leave after the first quarter to go to the cemetery and take pictures of the Historical Society's 35th annual Cemetery Walk. I could have taken pictures myself but, I guess it's time to admit, Andy's are better ... usually.

It's always interesting to hear the actors' stories. We raced around getting pictures and videos of the six actors and made it back to the golf party during halftime for burgers and brats. Bears won!

After a few rainy days, the weather was perfect for the Cemetery Walk and watching the game outside. Even the geese enjoyed the nice weather at the Cemetery Walk.

Open House Chicago afternoon

Our friend Betsy had a family emergency and had to leave town but Tim met us for lunch at D'Agostino's and to continue our Open House Chicago tour with an itinerary Betsy put together for us. Slice of pizza and a beer for $9. That's a deal these days. Now, let's explore Ukranian Village.

Stop No. 5 - Intuit Art Museum, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave. - Intuit Art Museum (IAM) champions the diverse voices of self-taught art.

Have to say I wasn't impressed with this stop.

Stop No. 6 - Kenar Studio, 1007 N. Wolcott - Kenar Studio is the private studio of renowned artist Jerzy S. Kenar, who specializes in interactive installations and sculpture. The studio, established in 1980, serves as a showroom for many of Kenar's unique pieces. His work appears locally at Harold Washington Library and O'Hare International Airport, as well as in many locations and private collections around the world.

Well, unique is a word for it.

It was interesting to hear from Kenar (at right) discuss the art that was on the patio and the meaning behind it.

Stop No. 7 - Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, 1121 N. Leavitt St. - Holy Trinity is one of just two churches designed by Louis Sullivan. It is the oldest Orthodox parish in Chicago, founded in 1892, and the Cathedral for the Orthodox Church in America: Diocese of the Midwest. Holy Trinity was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and named a Chicago Landmark in 1979.

Pretty church but I had to agree with Tim - we didn't see much Louis Sullivan.

I love when churches have candles for parishioners to light.

Stop No. 8 - St. Nicholas Ukranian Catholic Cathedral - 835 N. Oakley Blvd. - The parish, founded in 1906, quickly outgrew a small wooden church. The current building was modeled after the 11th-century St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine. The edifice has 13 green cupolas topped with gold crosses rising 167 feet into the sky, representing Christ and his 12 apostles. St. Nicholas is recognized for its magnificent icons, mosaics and stained-glass windows designed by Munich Studio of Chicago. Hanging from the highest dome in the center of the cathedral is a brilliant nine-tiered golden chandelier from Greece equipped with 480 lights.

Wow.

Beautiful window.

More candles.

Stop No. 9 - Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukranian Catholic Church - The Church of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha in Chicago is built in a pure Byzantine style. It was the only eastern rite church chosen for WTTW "Most Beautiful Places in Chicago" special. Its shape, its emphasis is on rounded arches and domes, and even the fact that it faces East has meaning.

So pretty. Just one vlock from themother Catholic Ukranian church we visited.

The dome was amazing...

as were the windows.

Stop No. 10 - Ukranian National Museum, 2249 W. Superior - The Museum was founded in 1952 and stands as one of the finest achievements of the Ukrainian American community. Its exceptional collection of folk art, fine art, and extensive archival materials bring broad appeal for diverse audiences.

This was another unexpected stop but when we walked out of the church, it was right across the street. These tools, used to make pysanku, the Ukranian eggs, was donated by a woman, Vera Samycia, who I interviewed when I worked in Pioneer Press' Park Ridge office. She gave me an egg at the end of the interview, which I keep in my little china cabinet. It's one of my favorite feature stories.

A collection of Vera's eggs.

Stop No. 11 - St. Helen Roman Catholic Church, 2315 W. Augusta - This Polish parish was formed in 1913, and in the early 1960s commissioned the present church building which blends Art Deco, Modernism and traditional styles with a Biblical fish motif. The spacious interior and ceiling are designed to draw all eyes to the altar, which is illuminated by light coming through slits in the walls. The stained glass contains mostly geometric patterns in small fragments of bright, unfiltered colors.

Very modern for a Catholic church. Those triangles on the ceiling represent the 12 disciples.

Interesting to see stained glass windows that don't depict Bible scenes.

More candles.

The baptismal area had its own little chapel. The font is shell-shaped and the water theme carries into the floor with fish depicted in the tile.

We did so much walking and took a few wrong turns along the way. There was another stop on the itinerary Betsy made for us but we were tired. We had a drink at Fatpour and called it a day.