I know I said in an earlier post I wanted to avoid weather shaming, but Geez Louise, I was sitting out here in the carport this morning in shorts and a t-shirt being serenaded by neighborhood birds, so it’s kinda tough not to. Weather shame, that is. Besides, I needed fodder for a post so, you know, low hanging fruit, right?
Winter apparently ends in February here. Buds are starting to appear on various plants already and while working at clearing away the last vestiges of fallen leaves yesterday (in jeans and a t-shirt) I was sweating my butt off. Figuratively, that is. I still have a butt, so…
I was actually back in Illinois last weekend, a whirlwind tour if you will, coming back in for Local 3234’s annual Recognition Dinner. A wonderful evening celebrating the guys that retired last year, myself included. I had a wonderful evening 
catching up with people I’ve spent a great deal of time with over the last 25 years or so. Many laughs were shared, a tall tale or two were told, and a bunch of hugs were distributed throughout the room. I even got a promise for some of Bob’s homemade, deep dish pizza when I come back in May for an extended visit. At least I think it was a promise. If it wasn’t, well Bob, you’re on the spot now, so I guess you’ve gotta come through.
Speaking of amazing food… among the high points (there were many) was a special delivery from one of my bonus kids, Courtney. Yes, you guessed it, RVCB’S! Amazing as always, I just popped the last one this morning. And like the old Folger’s coffee ad, they were good to the last drop. Since it took a Pony Express type delivery I especially liked the threatening tag on the package, something to the effect of “If your name isn’t Joel keep your hands off the goods” which made me literally lol when it was pointed out to me.
In true Illinois fashion the weather was not great. Several inches of snow in the days leading up to the dinner and daily high temperatures in the teens for the duration of my brief visit. The coldest I saw was 8º with a wind chill of -3º and I have to say, it was ok.
That last statement gave me pause, because if you know me IRL, you know how much I like to bitch about cold weather. *Hint- the correct answer is “a lot” * After giving the matter a little more thought, I came to the conclusion that it’s kind of like hitting your thumb with a hammer. It hurts. But if you only do it once, the pain passes relatively quickly. I was only in town for a couple of days and so was only briefly exposed to Illinois winter. Unlike my entire life prior to this winter, when my thumb was hit roughly 27 times a day for each and every one of the approximately six month-long Illinois winters I ever experienced.
Several hours were also spent with the kids and the littles on Sunday. Almost everyone knew I was coming in, so we all figured it would be a good way to see each other and arrangements were made to meet up at the home of the Boy Child and PhojoMama™. I say “almost” everyone because the Quiet Child decided to leave my arrival as a surprise for the Reigning Princess. When they arrived, RP stood in the hallway for five or ten seconds staring at me before she broke into a full on sprint, launching herself at me for an enormous hug. It was awesome. Another awesome part of the weekend was having the Little Diamond spend probably more time on my lap Sunday than she had cumulatively for her entire life to that point. It was just a really nice way to wrap up a great weekend.
Speaking of wrapping up (smooth, huh?) it’s about time for me to head over to the “Y” because, you know, fitness is my middle name.
Peace
PS- because, well, you know… Happy birthday baby! I hope you two are doing everything you love. Much like every other day if it’s like we’ve always been told it’s like. And I won’t mention any numbers because my Mom didn’t raise any dummies.