They have email in Alaska?

My dad, the outdoor adventurer (pictured left on last summer's family trip to Door County, WI) arrived safely in Alaska.

Steve jokingly asked my dad if he was also going to blog his trip. Instead - I have posted his first email as proof that they have email up there.

"The flight was good. The weather was beautiful the first day, sunny and 70s. We are staying at the Anchorage Guest House which is like an adventureer's bed and breakfast. We hiked to to top of Flat-top Mountain. It was beautiful and little more strenuous then I would have imagined. We were out of breath, but 9 out of 11 made it to the top. Peter a 65 year old retired engineer from Argonne will be my tent mate the rest of the trip. "


It sounds like this years summer trip will be more adventurous than last years! Although dad, Steve and Dr. Tony did attempt golfing -

Less than 1 month!

Yesterday (July 12th) marked the official one month countdown to the big day.

I am happy to report that we are in the final stretch and should be ready for all the big doings over the next few weeks.

Should we happen to deviate from my very well planned schedule - I am sure you will hear about it.

In the meantime, feel free to visit the wedding website for any details.

Steve and I both are getting really excited for the celebration!

Steve's Triumphant Return to the States

(Told in the third person, because obviously my body was overtaken by aliens when I inserted myself into this adventure...or perhaps just a little anxious to see my sweetie)

2 days prior to arrival

Tom W.: "Katie, I'd like to meet Steve at the airport what time does he get in?"

Katie: "Let me check - Steve sent me an email with all of the flight info. I'll call you back tomorrow. "

Katie sorts through numerous emails with no luck. She thinks to herself, "Hmm..which email did he sent it to? We definitely need to get better about subject lines. Ok - I'll just go to Air India's website. This is certainly no American Airlines - oh there it is. Flight AI127 with a scheduled arrival of 1605."

Later that evening....

Steve's mom: "Fred (Steve's dad) would like to greet him at the airport and take a picture."

Katie: "Ok - I think Tom W. also wanted to pick him up. I will call him tomorrow to let him know."

Steve's mom: "Well - he will probably just take a bus out there to meet. "

Katie (thinking to herself): "I wish I could leave work early - because I'd really like to meet him. Oh well, sounds like they have got it figured out." She talks to both Tom W. and Fred and have passed along the info. She is also posting/emailing Steve - so he will be on the lookout for them.

Day of Arrival:

10am
Katie looks at the Air India site only to see that the flight is delayed - but no time information is indicated. She calls a 1-800 number and they tell her that the flight is delayed until 4:55pm. She passes that info to Tom W. and tm's Steve to let him know that his dad will also be at ORD.

3pm
Katie sits at work - trying to focus so she can get her work done and get home to meet Steve. Since his flight is "delayed" she decides she may be able to take an early train home, pick up the pup and meet Steve in LaGrange at his parents. Sounds like a plan.

4pm
Katie wraps up her work and realizes what an odd coincidence it is that her co-worker is heading in a cab to ORD in a few minutes to catch her flight. Katie quickly packs up to see if she can catch her in the lobby and tag along.

Now 4:15pm
Katie thinks to herself, "Steve will be so surprised that I made it out to greet him and I am sure it will take him time to get off the plane and through security. I have plenty of time." She hops in the cab and throws out any ounce of common sense she has about 1. time 2. space 3. rush hour traffic 4. the reliability of Air India's phone rep. All she can picture is how happy Steve will be to see her.

4:30pm
Steve unboards the plane and calls his dad as he gets through security. The flight arrived on time and Steve does everything he can to navigate through the airport quickly. Once they meet up - Steve is anxious to go and does not want to wait to meet Tom W. He tries to call him and tell him to turnaround - they will just take a bus.

Katie enroute calls Tom W. and leaves a message that she is on her way. She then tries to get ahold of Steve's dad.

4:45pm
Fred answers the phone and learns of Katie's wherabouts. He passes the phone to Steve.

Steve, "Katie, I really just want to get home. Can you have the cab turn around or meet us at the O'Hare oasis?"

Katie feeling sick to her stomach, "Um, no I can't. I am in the cab with someone else. Can you just wait - the cab driver says it should be another 10-15 mins."

Steve, "Where are you? It's bumper to bumper traffic, isn't it?

Katie, "Near Foster, I think. Yes - it's pretty heavy."

In the meantime, Tom W. arrives to pick them up. They decide to get Steve home and come back for Katie at the airport. Fred ends up having them turnaround and drop him off so he can wait for Katie at the bus stop.

5:30
Katie's coworker gets dropped of at Terminal 3 for her flight.

5:40
Katie's taxi cab driver has no idea on how to get to the bus stop so she gets out at Terminal 5. Katie takes the tram over to the bus stop and meets up with Steve's dad. They wait for the 5:52 bus to LaGrange.

5:52pm
They take the bus to its final stop before heading to the garage. Apparently - this was the one bus that doesn't go the rest of the route. They transfer to another stop and wait for the next bus.

6:45pm
Steve greets Katie at 409. His right ankle is bandaged and swollen and his left is not much better. He has at least 3 days of stubble and smells of a man who has not showered for a few days and was camping in Berlin.

7:45pm
Katie and Steve arrive at 108 North. His flight from Germany took him 9 hours and his journey from O'Hare took 3.5. Steve is weary and worn - but exactly where he belongs. Home.

Free to a good home

One man's trash is another man's treasure? Or so the saying goes....

In the aftermath of yesterday's garage sale, we took two cars full of stuff to the Goodwill store. There were some remaining items that never made it to the garage sale because they were trash or broken and a few other items that seemed to bulky to be carted off in the car. We had a theory that putting these items out with the trash would allow them to go to good homes without the middle man of goodwill.

Mind you, many of these items were marked under 5 dollars. For the last hour, we said everything was 1/2 price. People still hemmed and hawed over paying $2 for a kids microscope set which still had its original price tag of $33. Needless to say, I believe it was donated in the end.

I fully expected that long before the garbage man came tomorrow morning a mirror, wobbly table and chair with a yellow flowered print cushion would be taken. Interestingly enough - the man who took the chair sat in it during the garage sale and wouldn't pay the "sale" price of $1.50 for it.

The most suprising thing was the number of items that were taken that we had deemed "not garage saleable" - an old box of Cheer (most likely from the early 80s), a mirror that had once been attached to a dresser and a rusted and dented dollhouse.

A teenage kid on his bike took a lawn chair that was riped only to have it open on him as he rode away. The girl he was with kept asking - "What are you going to do with it?" and made the observation that it was also a rocker and not just a regular chair.

I was annoyed with a few people who took it upon themselves to investigate one of the big black garabage bags by ripping it open - seriously, just untie the handles. No need to make a mess for the garbage man or me.

Even though we made a few bucks off the garage sale and were equally surprised at what people will spend their money on - in the future I plan to be sure and display more "junk" in my yard on garbage day...just to see if it gets taken. I know - I need to get a life. Not to worry - Steve will be home in less than 24 hours and he won't let me throw away anything.

If it's before 7am on Monday July 11th as you read this - feel free to stop by and pick through my garbage. There is still a metal bird cage, push mower, and an old chair with a crack down the middle of the seat. Just leave the rest alone. And don't bother with the canned tomatoes - best we can tell those are from the 60s.

Things I don't like doing....

1. Mowing the lawn*

2. Cleaning up after PT

3. Taking out the garbage

4. Washing dishes

5. Doing laundry

Come home soon......we need you!

*I did mow the lawn today for the first and last time.

A Little Haus History....

Steve has been asking me what I am doing to celebrate the long 4th of July weekend. I had little to say because I spent a large portion of the weekend finding homes for the new items we received at our wedding showers, unpacking the stuff we have been storing upstairs and prepping for a garage sale. I know sounds pretty exciting....

But wait - haven't you already had other garage sales this year? Yes, that's correct we are on to the final sale - #3 in 2006. We have had a total of 7 garage sales in the last 4 years and donated many items to Goodwill, Amvets, and of course the Naperville garbage and recycling.

I have mentioned previously that the house has been in the family for 90 years....and it is starting to feel as though we have 90 years worth of stuff. I thought it would be appropriate to explain how this all came to be and whose stuff we are sorting through. I am missing many details, which we are hoping to piece together as we rehab the house, but here is what I have.

In 1916, Elizabeth (Houser) Hein and her husband Emil Hein moved into 108 North with their 2nd son Ernest A. Hein and his wife Elizabeth (Thiel) Hein. These are my great, great grandparents and my great grandparents. The house at the time was a 2 flat with the younger Heins living upstairs. My grandfather Ernest R. Hein was born in 1918. The upstairs has a kitchen, dining room, living room, master bedroom and bathroom. It also has a very small room which until recently I assumed was a closet. It was my grandpa's bedroom.

In a one year span (Oct 1935 - Aug 1936) - Elizabeth Houser Hein, Emil and Ernest A. Hein all passed. This left my grandfather who was 17 at the time as the man of the house with his mother. When he married my grandmother, Rose Koretke, in October 1946, they continued to live in the downstairs apartment and raised 2 daughers (my mom and aunt).

When my great grandmother Elizabeth passed in 1979 (I was 1), time stopped in the upstairs apartment. I can remember going upstairs as a child and playing with my cousin. He had a train set up there and I remember all of the rooms set up as if someone still lived there.

Over the next 20+ years, my grandmother used that space as extra storage. Very little of my great grandmothers things were gone through or removed.

The summer before my sophomore year of high school (1993), there was a fire in the downstairs kitchen. Although it was late at night ( I belive around 2am) both of my grandparents were awake and made it safely out of the house. The kitchen was completely remodeled and there was smoke damage on the first floor. The fire fighters said that the space between the kitchen ceiling and the upstairs floor (the master bedroom) saved them from more fire damage.

In June of 1998, my grandmother passed away after battling pancreatic cancer. She was under hospice care for the last few weeks and was able to stay in a hospital bed at the house.

My grandfather was very ademant about remaining in the house that he was born in. He did so until December of 2002. It is easy to see how tied to this house he was given the history of his family and all of the memories he had from raising his own children there as well.

It has been quite an interesting journey as we sort through all of the items that have been stored and used at the house. On more than a few occasions we have struggled to determine what a particular item was, why anyone wanted it or how it ended up never getting used (still in original packaging, unfinished craft projects and many clothes still with the tags on).

I am really excited to see what the next phase holds for this house as we continue to sort through its history and return it to a single-family home.

So - Steve that's what I have been up to the last few days (oh and a little shopping).