Saturday

Four of us from work rode together to go to our coworker’s funeral, which was at her hometown an hour away. The service was quite nice. Someone from our office who worked closely with her provided a heartfelt and funny tribute. I was struck--not for the first time--by what good people I get to work with. We stayed for the luncheon. I sat between Eve and another coworker’s husband, whom I’d never...

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Added measure of relief

It seems like this week has gone on for six months.Everyone remains dazed by the loss of our coworker. I suspect it will take another week for a new normal to begin to settle in. I have started to get phone calls, some related to work and others that are personal, seeking information about the services or whatnot.  I had lunch with a group of friends I used to work with. There are seven of us...

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Final jazz

Last night a mess of unexpected thunderstorms blew through. They cleared the skies and today, for the first time in over a week, there was sunshine, blue skies and puffy white clouds. It was pretty enough to make up for the humidity. The last outdoor jazz concert was tonight, and it was a good one. Lots of energy and horns and a smooth sound I really enjoyed. Blaine liked the group too. Afterward,...

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Unexpected news

One of my coworkers passed away over the weekend. This is the coworker whose birthday party Eve and I attended a month or so ago. Everyone in the office was shell shocked. As the hours pass, it becomes harder to believe. The funeral will be Saturd...

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New speakers

The plan was to go somewhere and buy bluetooth speakers better than Blaine currently has. Quickly, seeking speakers turned into looking for a multi-room sound system, and that led us out of the city on an hour drive to the mecca of home furnishing stores, where the target evolved from multi-room to whole house. At one point we found ourselves in a soundproof simulated living room sitting in ergonomic...

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Sink in

Mica, Sophie and I took a road trip early in the day so Mica could restock her pantry with fancy balsamic vinegars and olive oils. She likes to prepare meals, while Sophie likes to cook and I am fine with peanut butter toast for two meals a day. I had to do most of the cooking growing up. I learned to follow recipes and eventually alter them as needed to improve them. By the time I moved out on...

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Is this the way it's going to be?

Eve was back at work! I presented her with a box of Puffs Plus to welcome her back and convey my hope that she feels all better in approximately 124 blows. I’ve decided to keep the white top I bought yesterday. I used my lunch hour to run it over to my regular alterations person. I want it shortened so it will hit where it’s supposed to, and I asked if it could be taken in slightly so it’s flowy...

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Best life

At noon I went to a little clothing store that I always forget exists because it’s in a part of town I’m rarely in. It has nice looking things that are inexpensive. The quality isn’t great but things can last for a couple of years if I’m careful about how I launder them. I found a two-layer, filmy, flowy top that might work with the skirt. It’s sleeveless (everything is) with a slender V-neck, and...

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Not too late

It was barely after 9:00 this morning when my cell phone vibrated across my desk. I expected it to be Eve because she hadn’t come in yet and usually gives me a heads up if she’s going to be out. It was Blaine. He was already having a bad day, a continuation of a situation he told me about last night. His voice sounded tired, his tone irritated. After a few minutes he blew out a sigh, signaling he...

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Another Tuesday and other jazz

“You’re going to kill me,” Henry said when I walked into what has become our conference room since we meet about every other day now.  “Why?” He pushed a document across the table. Eight pages of material for a display that I already had partially laid out. I laughed a little bit. “I’ll see what I can do.” “Yell at me if you need to,” he offered. “No, I’m good.” Recently Henry’s approach...

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A catch

I mentioned that when I was at the retirement reception for Blaine’s colleague, I ran into my former coworker, the one who introduced me to Henry. In today’s mail was an invitation to her retirement party. It’s in a couple of weeks and will be at their lake property. I had to Google to figure out where the lake is. Manmade, residential lakes are the new golf courses, apparently. This one is about...

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For the record

When my brother called today (he calls every day), I decided it was time to mention Blaine, simply to enter him into the record. So I said I had gone to the murder mystery dinner Friday night with Eve and Paul, who my brother has heard about before; Mica; "Blaine, a guy I've been going out with"; and his daughter, Allison. There was silence, probably as he was counting to five, his way of "listening,"...

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Shift

Mica called at the unholy hour of 7 a.m. to ask if I wanted to take the little white dog to the dog park before it was too hot to leave the house. We're still having close to or over 100 degree highs. It bites. As usual, no dogs on the small-dog side but six or seven on the big-dog side. Fortunately, all were friendly. The little white dog is often a hit with the Australian shepherds. Maybe he looks...

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Waiting for the murder

The murder mystery dinner was a lot of fun. Especially once we got to the murder part.One by one the six of us gathered at the location at the appointed time--an inconvenient 6 p.m. that required everyone to come straight from work. Paul, Blaine and Eve were in the corridor outside the event room when I arrived. A few minutes later, Allison walked around the corner. Right after, Mica came from the...

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Back to work

Is there anything worse than the first day back to work after a vacation? No. No, there is not. First thing this morning someone asked me to take photos at an event. That took up the morning and most of my energy. This afternoon I prepared materials needed for a meeting with Henry tomorrow. In between, over lunch, I went to Sam's Club and bought a tower of Puffs Plus that barely fit into the trunk...

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Germs and jazz

Things I brought back from Chicago include a Cubs t-shirt for the little white dog, two dresses and a lightweight rain jacket for myself, and a whopper of a head cold. The cold started toward the end of the day Saturday. I was fine when Mica and I walked to a restaurant for dinner. By the time we paid the check, my voice was getting weak and my throat was becoming sore but I felt OK otherwise....

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Still in love

I had hoped to post a little something every day that I was in Chicago, but Blogger doesn't play well with the iPad. Add overall exhaustion by the end of the day, and there was nothing but the sound of crickets around here. This trip was amazing. I've been to Chicago around 20 times. It is my home away from home, where my heart has lived since the first time I stepped off the L in the Loop sometime...

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Wrigley

There were glitches here and there — plane briefly diverted to Madison, Wisconsin; almost missing the Lyft driver — but the only thing that mattered was that the Cubs game was perfection. Bryant played well, Rizzo hit a homerun, but the ending, that was special. Bottom of the ninth and trailing by two, the Cubs loaded the bases and with two out hit a grand slam to win by two. Amazing experience to...

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Most important news

The little white dog is healing OK and won’t need surgery. Thank goodness. That's the most important news of the day. I didn’t set a record, but I did get to the office by 6:30, and by the end of the normal workday I had accomplished all of the ASAP requests. Mica helped by bringing lunch to me so I could continue to work. She was leaving just as Eve was returning from lunch. Eve waved Mica into...

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ASAP

I visited the little white dog after work. The problem spot on his eyelid might be slightly better but it's hard to say. Mica will take him to the veterinarian late tomorrow to find out if he'll need a procedure on Wednesday. The reason we're watching this so carefully is we're supposed to go to Chicago on Wednesday, and Mica may not go if he has surgery. I'm going to have to work 36 hours tomorrow...

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Musical

My glamorous life began with an early morning trip to the hardware store to buy what I needed to fix the toilet, which decided to go on the blink in the middle of the night. Before I could get home, Mica called. Little white dog woke with blood in his fur around his eye. She was taking it him to the veterinarian and wanted to know if I wanted to meet them there. Taking a beloved dog to the vet may...

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Eve’s theory

“I have a theory about homerun hitters,” Eve told me. “The best ones have big butts.” And so began this week’s FA...

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