Friday, September 11, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10:15, was still awake when Teresa got up at 12:30, we both took another ½ zopiclona and returned to bed this time falling asleep quickly, finally waking/getting up at 6:45 and Teresa was already up.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,313 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 42 minutes for a sleep score of 75.

Wow, today is the 25^th anniversary of 9/11; can’t believe it’s a quarter century in the past already. Well, it’s understandable when I think of where I was then and where I am now.

We left the apt at 9:30 and drove to Deerfield Bakery in Buffalo Grove. Again, Teresa had the skillet and I had the 2x2 and we shared a pecan roll with coffee. Teresa ate half her skillet and got the remainder to go. We drove to All Seasons Orchard in Woodstock.

We presented our free passes and they gave us two small paper bags for our apples. I understood any more than fit in the bags and we would have to pay for more bags. A tractor pulled us in a hayrack a short distance to the orchard. They had American flags indicating the rows (one gala and the other honey crisp) that we were supposed to use. I couldn’t believe how plentiful the apples were; previously I’ve always gone in October when it was difficult to find ripe apples.

We easily filled one of the bags then walked down to the honey crisp row. The honey crisp didn’t look healthy as they all had a spot on them. We returned to the gala row and filled the 2^nd bag and then some. We returned to the entrance and the girl nicely didn’t charge us for the extra apples.

We stopped in their store where we shared an apple cider donut and a glass of apple cider (she was not impressed) and got a small apple pie to go.

We drove to Crystal Lake where Teresa checked out Ross and I bought a 10-pack of thin socks and a stick of deodorant. We stopped nearby at a T.J. Maxx where Teresa returned a few items. Sitting in the car in the parking lot we finished the leftovers from Teresa’s breakfast.

I stopped at a gas station and filled up the car with $4.25 per gallon gas.

We returned to the Airbnb and brought up our things to our apt. We left again at 7:30 and drove to the nearby Chinese restaurant Twin Dragon where we shared a plate of chicken with rice and I had a hot tea. The check was $15.55 and I gave them $20 and told them to keep the change.

We stopped at a Walgreens where Teresa was looking for some type of fingernail polish. I found a group of 6 teenagers (1 guy, 5 girls) and one spoke Spanish and helped Teresa find what she was looking for.

We returned to the Airbnb.

I finished James Patterson’s Kill Alex Cross on my Kindle and downloaded the next book in the series.

 

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Thursday, September 10, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 2am, took a little while to fall back asleep, finally waking at 7am and getting up with Teresa at 8am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,445 yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 46 minutes for a sleep score of 79.

I went for a nap after breakfast but didn’t sleep much if at all.

We left the apt just before 11:30 and arrived at Jeannie’s apartment right at noon. (The google maps lady did me wrong again and took me on the tollway for a few minutes. Somehow the ‘avoid tollways’ option got turned off and I had to turn it back on again.)

We fed the girls then took them in the double stroller to Michael’s Grill where Teresa had a grilled chicken sandwich, Jeannie had some type of wrap and I had a cheeseburger with a Coke.

We walked a couple blocks further to Harmony Coffee Bar where I had a latte and Jeannie a Matcha Latte. We sat outside and Teresa took the girls on several walks around the area in their stroller.

We stopped at Walgreen’s where Jeannie picked up some photos. Back at the house we soon said our goodbyes as it was time for their naps.

We drove to a couple malls finally settling on Marshall’s in Deerbrook Mall where Teresa bought 2 blouses and I found a Bears cap for only $12.99. I bought a Sun-Times in Jewel next door. As I was returning to Marshall’s I saw a Brinks truck parked outside. A 50-ish man came out carrying a bag (which I later deduced was probably empty) and I told him in Medellin, Colombia he would have a 45 revolver at his side and another man with him carrying a shotgun.

We returned to the apt.

Troyclough resigned our game increasing my rating to 1547.

For supper Teresa had leftover Fish Tikka Masala and I had the remainder of my Gale Street ribs. Everything was just as delicious as when then were fresh.

I checked my crossword puzzle from yesterday and I got it 100% correct. 😊

This video of Annie James is from last Friday when they were driving to Lake Geneva:

 

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Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, took at least until midnight to tall asleep, got up once during the night, finally waking at 6:30 and getting up with Terea at 8am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 6,554 yesterday and last night I slept for 5 hours and 14 minutes for a sleep score of 63.

I had a 39-minute nap after breakfast.

We left the apt at 10:30 and I dropped Teresa off at Marshall’s while I headed to the laundromat. The woman there helped me get change (quarters) and starting the washers and dryers. I did a load of whites and one of coloreds. I walked across the street to the 7-11 but they didn’t have the Sun-Times. After I folded everything and put it in the trunk I drove to Walgreen’s where I bought the only Sun-Times they had. I drove to Marshall’s where Teresa was trying on clothes. She didn’t find anything she liked but I found a Bears sleeveless t-shirt in the larger size I needed for $16.99.

We had our usual lunch in Panera Bread then went nearby to Ross Dress for Less but they didn’t have anything we were interested in.

Back at the apt Teresa took a nap while I successfully completed the Sun-Times crossword puzzle.

We left the Airbnb at 6:30 and drove to Gale Street Inn on Milwaukee where Michael and his girlfriend Chelsey (sp?) were waiting for us. Unfortunately, our seats were right under an A/C vent and I almost froze my backside. Michael doesn’t remember the little Spanish he knew because he’s got Russian running through his brain which I hear pisses off his Czeck friends. He won’t be able to attend Annie’s birthday party because he has a friend in Atlanta dying of brain cancer he needs to visit. I learned Chelsey does event planning. Michael and I ordered a full rack of ribs, Chelsie (sp?) their jumbalaya, and Teresa their salmon. Teresa told me later her salmon was dry but our ribs were great, much better than Carson’s. I ate half my ribs and got the other half to go.

We left at 8:30 and stopped in Walmart for a few groceries before returning to the Airbnb.

 

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Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up twice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:15.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 3,398 yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 42 minutes for a sleep score of 81.

Teresa slept in until 8am.

I’m trying to schedule supper with Michael (aka Mr_Blamo) for tomorrow night. I’m suggesting we meet at Gale Street Inn on North Milwaukee. They have salmon and great ribs; hoping they’re better than Carson’s from the other night. Speaking of tomorrow, it’s looking more and more like rain so we may be moving our apple picking outing to Friday.

After breakfast I had a nap for an hour but my Fitbit says I only slept for 17 minutes.

We left the Airbnb at 11am and at first I had a little problem with the google maps lady giving me a route. We arrived at Jeannie’s house by 11:45. Today she is taking care of her own daughter plus Joanne’s daughter Lucy. After playing with the kids for a while, we walked two blocks to downtown Highland Park where we had drinks in Harmony Café. 

We stopped on the way back to the house at Michael’s Grill where we bought a hotdog for me, chicken sandwich for Teresa and hamburger for the girls. Back at the house, after finishing lunch, we played in their playpen for a while until Joanne arrived to pick up Lucy.

Joanne and Jeannie have been friends since kindergarten after playing on the same AYSO soccer team. Jeannie’s Lucy is one month older than Annie. Jeannie and Joanne both live in Highland Park 1 mile from each other. Joanne is an interior decorator and she was instrumental in Jeannie becoming a private consultant for interior designers. Joanne watches both girls on Monday & Wednesdays and Jeannie watches them on Tuesdays & Thursdays. 😊

We gifted Joanne a couple of Colombian dresses for Lucy.

We left about 3:30 and drove to a nearby T.J. Maxx on Skokie Blvd. Teresa returned a blouse and I bought a National Geographic magazine about The Revolutionary War for Jimmy. We drove to another T.J. Maxx in Morton Grove where Teresa found 2 pairs of jeans and I found a Bears sleeveless t-shirt

to wear around the house.

We drove to Twin Dragon restaurant on Golf Rd but found it closed. I drove us nearby to Himalayan Restaurant where I ordered fish tika masala for Teresa and chicken tika masala for me and they came with basmati rice. Delicious! She didn’t remember the place until after she tasted the food, which she loved. Me too! She got about 1/3 of it to go with some basmati rice.

Chesswiz98 resigned our game on the 24^th move increasing my rating to 1543.

Teresa tried on the pants and decided she’ll return them.

I went out to the car to retrieve Teresa’s cellphone and about 15 feet away I saw 2 raccoons climb up the side of the dumpster.

We went to bed at 10pm but I couldn’t fall asleep until about midnight after Teresa asked me to get up and turn up the air conditioning. I was feeling warm also but just too lazy to get up and change it.

 

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Monday, September 7, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, took about an hour to fall asleep, got up once at 3:15, fell back asleep quickly, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 8,594 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 6 hours and 13 minutes for a sleep score of 71.

Today is a holiday here – Labor Day!

After breakfast I had a 52-minute nap.

Despite my intentions to avoid it, last night I went through an Illinois Tollbooth so now I have to figure out how to pay the toll.

We left the Airbnb just after 10:30 and drove an hour to Illinois Beach State Park. There didn’t seem to be much there for us since we didn’t bring swimsuits but Teresa was impressed by the beach and the large lake. We headed back the way we came and stopped at Emily’s Pancake House where Teresa had chicken breast with hash browns and I had the steak (which I didn’t much care for) & eggs but Teresa got the steak and some hash browns to go for our supper tonight.

We returned basically the way we came but stopped in Randhurst Village mall where Teresa returned another blouse to T.J. Maxx but bought another $144 in clothes. We went next door to Skechers where I bought a very light pair of gym shoes for $68.

We stopped at The Original Rainbow Cone ice cream shop (it’s their 100^th anniversary this year) on Rand Road where I bought a small cone with the 5 standard flavors. Of course, Teresa just had a taste of each layer and I finished the rest.

We returned to the Airbnb.

ChatGPT helped me move the Stockfish 18 engine to a more secure location.

I checked the Illinois Tollway website and it looks like I have 14 days to pay the toll. I’ll wait just in case I have more.

For her 1^st birthday I made a donation to Annie James’ 529 plan.

 

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Sunday, September 6, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, didn’t fall asleep until after midnight, got up once at 4:30, finally fell back asleep, waking/getting up at 7am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 5,002 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 3 minutes for a sleep score of 64.

After breakfast I returned to bed for a nap and slept for a few more minutes.

We left the Airbnb at 11:15 and drove to Randhurst Village mall where Teresa got a refund on one of the blouses she bought yesterday.

She shopped some more in T.J. Maxx, Macy’s and Old Navy but didn’t find anything.

We had lunch again in Panera Bread for $30.16 then returned to the Airbnb.

We left at 3:30 and picked up Jimmy at his condo and continued on to White Sox Park. Traffic was much heavier, now that the team is winning, as evidenced by the fact we parked in lot G instead of A like last time.

We arrived at our seats by the top of the 2^nd inning with the score still 0-0.

Jim went for a slice of pizza while Teresa and I got in a long line for hotdogs and sodas. The White Sox won, 10-1, over the Minnesota Twins with two home runs, and thus fireworks, and of course more fireworks after the win. It was a slog getting back to our car although Jimmy did a good job of guiding us.

We dropped Jimmy off at his condo and continued on to our Airbnb. We stopped at Walmart to buy another carton of eggs and a large container of half & half for our coffee.

We got to bed at 11pm.

 

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Saturday, September 5, 2026

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, fell asleep quickly, got up once at 4am, couldn’t fall asleep, looked at my phone from 5 to 5:30, fell back asleep, finally waking/getting up with Teresa at 8am.

According to my Fitbit, I got in 9,516 steps yesterday and last night I slept for 7 hours and 18 minutes for a sleep score of 71.

We left the apt at 10am and drove to Long Grove, IL. Not only does it have neat shops

but it was Irish Days. They had Irish dancing, Irish music (bagpipes and drums), and an Irish kilt contest.

We had lunch at the 200-year-old Village Tavern

a chicken sandwich for Teresa and a burger for me. Including Cokes it came to about $60 including tip.

Across the street we visited Olivia’s Boutique where Teresa found a blouse she loved for $74.52.

We stopped nearby at the Long Grove Confectionary where I bought a package of 6 apple spice donuts for $8.14. 

I was a little concerned they might not be fresh because they were prepackaged but they sure tasted fresh.

We took them next door to Long Grove Coffee where we ordered lattes for $10.28 to have with our donuts. (Teresa had one bite, declared they were delicious and that’s all she ate.)

We drove to Randhurst Village mall where Teresa found 3 blouses in T.J. Maxx for a total of $98.30.

 We returned to the apt and Teresa made herself an omelet and me 2 ears of sweet corn. I finally tried one of the oranges and found it was the same from Chile that we currently have in Medellin. Which I don’t like, too hard to eat and not sweet enough.

I won a game vs Troyclough increasing my rating to 1537. I tried a new opening, the Queens’s Gambit, and on my 21^st move blundered my rook and on the next move he blundered his queen.

I spent at least an hour with ChatGPT getting my Stockfish 18 engine set up correctly for game analysis. Next I will have to move it from the download folder to a place more secure.

 

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