thanksgiving travels

For this year's Thanksgiving, we chose Illinois Beach Resort at Illinois Beach State Park. It met our criteria quite nicely: (1) it was close enough to drive to, (2) it had a buffet-style dinner for the holiday, (3) it had plenty of available rooms, and (4) it had dog-friendly (!!!) rooms. That last one was the clincher, because while we will board Pluto if necessary, we would rather bring him with us and have him be the kind of dog who is comfortable traveling and exploring different places. We didn't do a great job of that with Charlie, so we've been making a point of taking Pluto where we go whenever it's feasible.

As an added bonus, Illinois Beach is only about an hour from Naperville, so Barb and Kevin joined us for Thanksgiving dinner and a brief stroll on the beach. It was a little chilly, but really not so bad for the end of November. After Barb and Kevin left, there was a lot of lounging around playing video games and watching movies. My kind of holiday!

Friday morning, Henry and I took Pluto out to see the sunrise and walk along the beach. As a little test, I let go of Pluto's leash to see what he would do. Shockingly (or not, because he is a dog, after all), he ran off down the beach, drank a ton of lake water, and didn't want to come back when we called him. So much for all those lessons at dog school! Anyway, eventually he came back to us. Later on, we all headed out for a hike. It was kind of duney, with some grasses, but honestly not my favorite hike or park. But you know what? Any day we get to spend outside together instead of at school/work is a win for me.

a veterans day tale (sort of)

The other day, I picked up Gramps after work to take him to the library. He loves listening to audiobooks, especially Westerns, and the library has a huge collection. I love the library; always have, ever since I was a little girl. But spending time with Gramps is always the bigger draw.

I found him in his office, writing on one of his ubiquitous 3x5 index cards. This has been his habit since retirement, to write down little snippets of things to keep their memory alive. I asked what he was writing about, and he took me to the kitchen, where a freshly polished antique wooden radio sat on the table. And then he told me a short story:

I bought this radio in 1956 as a Christmas present for your grandma. Notice how it has both AM and FM? I believe FM was the new innovation at that time, so it was a big deal. It cost most of my monthly pay to buy it. I think Bev was expecting a ring, but she got a different R word instead. And anyway, she didn't have to wait too long for the ring — I ended up buying one just two weeks later!

 

While he was talking, I glanced at the index card, and noticed that it mentioned his exact salary at the time: $122.66 per month from the army. I asked him about it, and he laughed and said yes, that was his salary, and that was four grades above the basic pay! Then he said, "And did you know they paid us in cash?"

WHAT??

That's right. According to Gramps, once a month, there would be one officer with a big box full of money, and another one with a machine gun or submachine gun standing guard, and all the soldiers would line up and collect their dough. Isn't that amazing?

Gramps with Great-Grandpa Jeff, Midway Airport, circa 1956

As a bonus, Gramps laughed in delight at telling me something I didn't know. He said he's made it his mission to think up things about history that will surprise/amaze/entertain me every time I see him, and it's a triumph when he hits on something like this. 

Could I adore my grandpa any more? I don't think so!

we pose prettily

Sunday was picture day around these parts! I have been meaning to get the boys' pictures taken for a long time now — our last photos were in December 2015. This time, I decided to coordinate with my siblings so we could get new cousin pictures taken for my parents for Christmas. We also got a bunch of group pictures and a nice mix of family and individual shots (Bethany, J, and Lon also had pictures taken with their kids/significant others/pets, but I'll let them post those on their own platforms). Bethany's friend Charman was our photographer (she also took our pictures last time; she's great!), and we had so much fun tromping around in my parents' woods looking for interesting backdrops. I would say we were pretty successful, but you can judge for yourself. Seriously, go on. Judge away.