Musings of Eric Sharp

A good pal from High School came down last weekend. To most people, this extravagant Katie Holmes (must read his profile to understand this) obsessor goes by the name of Erich Matteson. In Katie’s case, she knows of him as stalker ID 506DW6U9. But for few select like Ethan and I, he’s know as…”The Dance”.

“The Dance” flew into Orlando, and then made a drive down to Sebring where his Grandparents awaited for a much overdue visit. He spent a couple days down there, and then made his way back to Orlando to spend a full day with Eazy and I before flying out the next day.

Even with a 4am trip to the airport (yes, 4 am), “The Dance’s” visit was enjoyed by all. From our Chilis luncheon, to our romp around Orlando in search of the most comfortable, yet cost effective computer chairs – we dug it. We’re glad the circumstances allowed us all to visit and catch up. We look forward to seeing “The Dance” again..

Headed back to chilly Illinois for the holiday. Rrented a car from Midway airport, traveled back to Sterling, and began a weekend full of planned activities & gatherings. The sporty Hyundai Sante Fe was fun to drive, though I’d never purchase a Hyundai it was a nice having a little SUV for the weekend.

The next morning after arrival, we headed out to the local Y and met up with my non-competitive cousins and uncles from my Mom’s side for our yearly b-ball tradition. Here is some documentation of the epic battles. Hey Lincoln, did you really throw up after our first game?? You big panzy. :) Afterwards, we met up with some more fam for lunch at the newly remodeled Angelos (my Mom’s old stomping ground) for some Spaghetti Pizza. Mmmmmmmm.

Christmas brings 4 different family/mini-family gatherings for myself while I’m back in Sterling. The 1st is typically with my Dad’s side on Christmas Eve. I really wish my Grandma could still be with us, there’s nothing anyone can really do to fill the void of her presence during this night. We all truly miss her.

The 2nd Christmas is with Mom & Buddy, which usually takes place on Christmas Eve or on the Eve of Christmas Eve. This date fluctuates depending on when everyone gets into town.

Presents, my brother the boozer (future cop ladies and gentlemen), Buddy violating one of Spud’s stuffed toys, the infamous leopard, Mom opening my gift, and Alexis enjoying one of many presents she received.

The 3rd Christmas takes place in the house I grew up, with my Dad, Brother, and the kids if they’re available. I had the most phenomenal gift wrapping job (a tradition of course) for my brother. It’s always a pleasure to hang with the pops and get him something he needs – this year brought some new snow boots!

Finally, the 4th and last Christmas gathering I partake in is with my Mom’s side – the Deans. Typical Christmas this year, with of course a big surprise (more on that in a following post). Don’t let the word “typical” be condescending towards the holiday or my family. I of course mean it in SUCH a positive manner. I simply love coming back for the holidays. I can always count on some quality time with my family including good eats, the grab bag gift exchange, the traditional game of Guesstures (Boys were victorious ONCE again), and simply slowing down life and enjoying the people I love during the holiday. I can always count on a “typical” Dean Christmas, which was even more enjoyable this year. The Bears won the division & beat the Pack, and we snow tubed for the first time in YEARS.

This family basically awaits two events a year to bring everyone together – Christmas and the Rend Lake reunion in Sesser, Illinois during Summer. When we’re all together – we are either in the snow or the water – there’s no in between for the most part.

Just some snapshots of our grueling, yet satisfying Saturday afternoon in the yard last weekend. My Dad traveled down to Orlando for the weekend, and was automatically entered into our “pick-up-a-rake” drawing where he won first place. :) Yes, we did do OTHER things besides just work in the yard people.

It’s amazing how much progress we all made. We were out there for a good 4 hours or so, and bagged aprx. 20, 39 gallon bags of CRUD (I think that puts us over 200 bags since move-in). Rotten leaves, sticks, fern roots, random roots, weeds, and everything in between. This has been the story of this backyard since we’ve moved in. BUT, good news, we have officially cleared off the top layer and have found dirt. So, I’m thinking at this point it can only get easier right? I mean, those bags weighed aprx. 50 pounds each, so it’s safe to say we’ve removed over 5 TONS of CRUD since June. 5 TONS, that’s just crazy talk isn’t it?

Dad going to town on a root. I honestly can’t believe I waited this long to buy an axe.

Ah, victory.

We have grass people! That’s right, after months of cleanup, there are blotches throughout the yard that need some TLC. I’m quite proud of this, if you haven’t already observed.

This is the wall looking into the dining room. We pulled up all the old brick (I’m guessing those bricks are AT LEAST 30 years old) and killed everything that was living in the vicinity.

Much better already! That’s about 6 bags of rock right there, so it’s safe to say I’ll be heading back to Home Depot for another “rock run”. I need to pick up some more edgers too, as we’re depleted there as well. Eventually we’ll get some plants in there, and run some more pavers along the side of those edgers to start making it look pretty.

Ok, this is a little bizarre & unsettling.

My Dad flys down to Orlando today for the weekend. The trip has been planned for a few months now. He called me up as I was heading home from the office last night, and tells me to flip on CNN – there’s something I HAVE to see. Upon getting home & stealing the TV away from Net (Thursday nights are TV night for her), I became aware of the situation going down at Midway Airport in Chicago.

Now, what makes this so monumental for my Dad & I is that he’s flying Southwest today. That Southwest flight takes off from Midway, @ 3:25. Yea, crazy eh? Believe it or not, his flight has only been delayed for aprx. an hour so far today.

We’ll see how it all plays out.