It's Snowed... AGAIN! And News on Laura

OK I'm posting this for all you family members who had the good idea to move AWAY from Chicago.... it's snowed AGAIN!!! I think the weather people are saying that this winter is one of our worst as far as snowfall goes. It started early... and it sure seems to be going on for a long time.

And GREAT news about Laura -- that's me ;) One of my bears has made the cover of the major teddy bear collecting magazine here in the States!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am!!!

Rain & Warm Temps brings Flooding....

Fortunately, the house is dry, but the shop got some flooding. Sunday morning and afternoon was spent getting rid of all that water. Fortunately it wasn't very deep. We still have a LOT of ice all over and lots of snow too which is pushing the water into the shop as it has no where else to go.

Bob was out there today on his hands and knees chopping channels into the ice so the water has a place to escape... away from the shop. At this moment he's got a pump to try to move the water out into the yard. This winter really stinks... for more reasons than the weather....

New Family Member!

We are pleased to introduce the newest member of the Matthews Family to you.... Sequoya.
Sequoya is a 1 year old chihuahua adopted thru Chihuahua Rescue USA.
You can read all about her and see more photos on the Whippets' Page.

Jen is OK!!! Our Hearts go out to the Families ....

There was a deadly shooting on campus at Northern Illinois University today -- our hearts go out to all the families that lost loved ones. Jen is OK. She was on campus at the time but fortunately for her and us, no where near the building when it happened.

Stuff Going On....

Argh!! This has been a VERY long winter!! A large part of that is due to the wintry weather starting in mid-November instead of late December or January. It just doesn't seem to let up! We've had many more "yucky" days than OK winter days this winter, that's for sure! Oh well, the only option is to move -- and that is just not an option at this time.

UPDATES: I've started to write up some biographies on our Girls. I've started with Cleopatra -- you can read them and see pictures on The Whippets' Page.

An Evening in the City

Last night we had the wonderful pleasure of spending the evening at the theater... The Goodman Theater to be exact. We went with Jennifer and her BF Dawn, Tom (Bob's boss) and Tom's fiancee.

We started the evening with a wonderful meal at The Melting Pot. FABULOUS!!! We highly recommend them, but be sure you have enough time. Dinner takes at least 2 hours.

The performance we attended was "Talking Pictures" by Horton Foote. Our friend from the Renaissance Faire - Phil Earl plays Willis and did a WONDERFUL job! In fact, the entire cast was awesome! You could tell they had amazing chemistry together. We highly recommend it. This performance was the first one that the Goodman has ever done "in the round".