Another one!!

I just got the call from Midwestern in Glendale. The Dean himself called to congratulate me! Now I'm nervous ..... decisions, decisions.

Open wide .........

UIC College of Dentistry feels I'm worthy, got the offer this morning! I haven't heard anything from Midwestern yet, but I really only need one offer. Now quit reading this blog and go brush & floss!

Is it Friday yet??

The wait is killing me!

12 hours ....... or so.

But who's counting??!!

Count down .....

Two days until dental schools can start making acceptance offers! Let's hope I'm worthy of an offer. Stay tuned ....

Turkey Day 2007

On Wednesday all four kids and I left for MI while Jim left for Japan. We stayed at my sister Susan's place in Ann Arbor. My b.i.l. Cary is Peter's Godfather and he spent lots of time with both Pete & Mitch in his music studio. Pete became quite adept at creating "sound" stories on the synthesizer and played some song bites on it too. Mitchell was a natural on the drums & piano. Mitch will start drum lessons after the 1st of the year and we're very excited about that because drumming really calms and centers him. And he really is amazingly good! Ros & John had a great time in Susan's art studio painting pictures the way real artists do. Not to mention all the kids had a great time playing with their cousin Ella. After dinner on Thursday, Mitchell stayed in MI to spend a special weekend with his God-papa Brian while I loaded Peter, Ros & John into the van and we headed up to Whitby ON, northeast of Toronto, for a Silver Sticks tourney. Jim flew in from Japan on Friday evening to join us and he was able to catch the last game on Saturday morning. Petey's team was eliminated by 7/100ths of a point. Bummer, but Pete played some of his best hockey ever. In fact the coach has now moved him up a line and he is the #2 center. Way to go Petey! That afternoon the 5 of us headed back to the States and stayed in Lansing at my sister Rhonda's place. Brian returned Mitchell to us on Sunday and then the 6 of us headed back to Chi-town. Over 1000 miles on the van later, I need a vacation. Of course I'd settle for a few days on the couch like George. That's pretty much all he's been doing since returning from the kennel. Poor, neglected, deprived doggie!


Mitchell in Uncle Cary's studio.


The kids at A. Susan & U. Cary's house.


The rest of us in the new dining room.

November Ketchup/Red Wings Game/Leaf Piles

First, there's the plethora of birthdays this month. Some I'm posting late, others early.

Nov 4th - My big 'sis & Godmomma Debby.



Nov 8th - My niece and Roslyn's Godmomma Melissa.



Nov 11th - My brother-in-law Cary.



Nov 14th - My brother-in-law Tim.



Nov 16th - My "oldest" and 1st niece Bethie.



Nov 19th - By favorite big bro' Rob.



Nov 19th - Beth's wife, uh I mean husband, Jon.


Second, there's the annual Red Wing's game/Costume Euchre party.


Me, Jim, Rob & Jan


Melissa, the Knight Kitty.


Nate, the Knight Kitty's husband dressed as a, uh, who knows!


Helen, the Pet Detective.


Jonathan, the Heisman Trophy.


Just plain scary!

Third, we're being attacked by aliens. Or maybe not, but George seems to think that these strange things falling out of the trees need to be individually investigated, but only at night during his bedtime potty-stop. My two legged kids seem to have a different opinion, at least the 3 that are currently at home.

Happy belated B-day Rhonda & other overdue things ....

Since I last posted:

1. Helen didn't send me any current pictures so I wasn't able to update her b-day post.
2. John & I had strep throat.
3. Jim had some other throat infection that required antibiotics.
4. I had a double ear infection and I'm still finishing my antibiotics.
5. I interviewed at UIC. I think it went well & I liked the school. Of the two schools that I've interviewed with, both have pros & cons and if I should be lucky enough to get offers from both and need to choose between the two, it'll be a very hard decision to make.
6. My sister Rhonda had a b-day on Halloween. Happy belated b-day Ru!
7. All the other Halloween festivities occurred. Pete was a biker skeleton zombie (I think), J.D. was a blind ref, Mitchell was the grim reaper, Ros was a scary skeleton & Sir John was a "good knight". George started out the night as a "bone dog" but the costume was too small, so I made him a new one at the last minute so he could be comfortable. See the pix below.
8. We had Ros & John's birthday party at Pump it Up. There were 11 kids total including Mitchell. Everyone had a great time. See the pix below.
9. The Nike/Bauer International Hockey Tourney was held in Chicagoland. Pete's team, the Chicago Mission, made it to the playoffs but lost to the St. Louis Jr. Blues who are coached by Al McGinnis. The Mission did not give them an easy win. They played well but it was one of those games that no matter how often they crashed the net, they just couldn't get the puck past the goalie. But they had Al McGinnis pacing on the bench. He's used to winning easily, last year his team was ranked #1 in the U.S. and #2 in North America. I'm very proud of Petey and the entire Mission team!

I'm sure I probably missed something, but I'm lucky that I got this much updated!


Mitchell, Peter, J.D., Ros, John & George.


Sir John, Ros & George.


Sir John prior to his "candy quest".


Georgie's 2nd costume.


The b-day girl.


The b-day boy.


The party gang.


Cake excitement.


Birthday wishes.


Ros & Gen.


John, Hailie & Hannah.


'Da big bro.