Ronnie Milsap setlist

Prisoner of the Highway
He Got You
Any Day Now
I Wouldn't Have Missed It For the World
What a Difference You Made In My Life
In Love
There's No Getting Over Me
Where Do the Nights Go?
Don't You Know How Much I Love You
Take the Long Way Around the World
Still Losing You
She Keeps the Home Fires Burning
What Goes On When the Sun Goes Down
A Woman in Love
I'd Be a Legend In My Time
Guest: You're Looking At Country, Walking After Midnight
Back On My Mind Again
Lost In the Fifties Tonight
Daydreams About Night Things
Stranger In My House
Your Cheating Heart
Button Off My Shirt
Smoky Mountain Rain
America the Beautiful

Festival of the Vine

So today, I stopped by my favorite summer festival, Festival of the Vine. They have samples of food local Geneva eateries as well some great wines. They also have live music and a craft fair as well. this year, I had to attend on Friday afternoon, since I worked Friday night, Saturday morning, and Sunday afternoon and Ring of Honor is happening Saturday night in Chicago Ridge. 

After running a few errands at the cleaners, car wash, and bank, I got to downtown Geneva around 11:15, well before it got crowded. I bought 30 dollars in tickets, trying to stay on a budget. Yeah I know, some budget right? All the food samples cost 1-5 tickets and the wines are all 4, 6, or 12 tickets. All the 4 ticket ones are the basics with brand names like Rex Goliath and Beringer. I couldn't mentally or financially justify spending $12 for one cup of wine, so I stayed in the six ticket range. 

I usually opt for red wine over white, so I started with the Urlo Red Blend. This Tuscan blend combines the rustic flavor charm of an Italian red with the full-bodied, fruit-driven style of new world wine making. It had a full finish with a lingering vanilla note. I definitely enjoyed that one. The Dreaming Tree Pinot Noir comes from musician Dave Matthews. This California Pinot Noir highlights flavors and aromas of ripe cherry, wild strawberry, and caramel. It had a much lighter taste than the blend, but it was still enjoyable. I did have a white, the Ruffino Moscato. I could taste the fruit flavors, especially peach and orange blossoms. It was just fine, but I wouldn't drink it again.

For the food, I started at Geneva Ale House, one of my favorite bars in the area. They have an excellent menu and an extensive beer selection. I tried the campfire slider, which was a burger topped with maple-glazed pork belly, maple bacon, maple chipotle BBQ sauce and onion straws. It was really a good combination of flavors, thought the burger may have been a little overcooked. then I checked out the Nobel House stand, my other favorite restaurant in Geneva. I planned on getting their burnt ends, but the executive chef was there and he sold me on the pulled bacon sandwich. It looked just like pulled pork. They served it on a small brioche roll and there were two housemade BBQ sauces to top it with. It was so ridiculously tender and fatty. Just a total indulgence of happiness and pork goodness. 

I got a fish taco from Bien Trucha, which I think I've done the last two years. I would like to go back to their restaurant, but I don't like that you have to get four of the same tacos in each order. I mentioned to the guy at the stand that a taco sampler would be great for people like me, who would likely come alone. Four different tacos, just to try a little of everything. As good as their Mexican food is, I would be willing to pay for that. For dessert, I went with Kilwin's, a new addition to the dessert scene in Illinois. I had their apple pie ice cram in a waffle cone. The ice cream looked like French vanilla on the surface, But inside were tiny chunks of apples, caramel, and bits of apple pie crust. It was an awesome flavor of ice cream. 

OK, I bought five more dollars in tickets to get the ice cream. Well worth it though. I'll be back next year, for sure. 

9/11

1) So those pricks at the local college in Glen Ellyn let me go one week ago. What I thought was a part time job that had potential to grow into a full time role turned out to be nothing more than a probationary period. And they chose not to extend my deal. I was pissed off for a day or two, but I'm feeling better about it now. I think back to when I was let go a year and a half. I lost full time pay, benefits, my Master's tuition, and I had no backup job. None of those thigns apply now. Yeah I have bills and a huge ass loan to pay back in time, but I have a waitering job and it looks like I can still get a little unemployment. And with an additional job under my belt and my Master's completed, I'm pretty sure I'll get a decent offer a lot faster than I did last time. In fact today, I had Career Education and Universal Technical Institute reach out to me about possible job openings. So who knows where they may lead.

2) Mom is gone. She is away leading a Collette tour throughout Colorado for the next nine days. We need the break from each other, but I'm glad she has a chance to be on the road since I know she loves it.

3) Those New York Mets. Sweeping Washington three games in Nationals Park, building that division lead to 7 games. Since then, the Mets have beat the Braves twice and Miami knocked off the Nats tonight. The lead is 8.5 games and the magic number to clinch the NL East is just 14. This is such a special season and I wish it wouldn't end. Yoenis Cespedes. The man is an absolute machine. I really hope the Mets find a way to sign him.

4) So the NFL has started. Great. I need a game where Satan (the team in Foxboro) isn't playing. I did not watch one play of Opening Night.

5) 14 years ago. I will never forget. I love New York and I love America.

2015 NFL Predictions

AFC East
b-New England 11-5
x-Miami 9-7
Buffalo 8-8
NY Jets 6-10

AFC North
y-Pittsburgh 9-7
x-Baltimore 9-7
Cincinnati 7-9
Cleveland 4-12

AFC South
y-Indianapolis 11-5
Houston 9-7
Tennessee 5-11
Jacksonville 3-13

AFC West
x-Denver 12-4
San Diego 8-8
Kansas City 7-9
Oakland 5-11

NFC East
y-NY Giants 10-6
x-Dallas 10-6
Philadelphia 9-7
Washington 3-13

NFC North
b-Green Bay 11-5
Minnesota 8-8
Detroit 8-8
Chicago 6-10

NFC South
y-New Orleans 10-6
Carolina 9-7
Atlanta 8-8
Tampa Bay 5-11

NFC West
z-Seattle 13-3
x-Arizona 10-6
St. Louis 7-9
San Francisco 5-11

AFC Championship
Indianapolis over New England

NFC Championship
Seattle over Dallas

Super Bowl
Seattle over Indianapolis

22 hours gone

So it was Tuesday night and I’d just had dinner. I believe I had leftover baked honey mustard chicken and roasted potatoes. It was around 6 pm, so I headed downstairs to the basement and listen to the Mets game. About 20 minutes later, my mother came down the stairs. She said Maggie was gone. I wasn’t sure what to think at first. But I came upstairs.

I went straight to the backyard and called her name a few times, to no response. It wasn’t dark outside; we still had about two hours of light left. I checked the house and she was nowhere around. I took a drive around our street. Still nothing.

Mom seemed pretty much devastated. She had already had too much wine anyway, so I knew it was up to me to take action. And I knew that I had to get started immediately. So I knocked on at least eight doors to alert them what was going on. They didn’t know anything. Now Maggie has tags on her dog collar with our address and phone numbers. However, she was never micro-chipped. I’m not even sure I was aware of the technology until now.

My next step was to make some phone calls. Anderson Animal shelter, Fox Valley Animal Control, and the St. Charles police department. Most businesses were closed, but Animal Control left me a voicemail that they had not heard anything. I also posted on a website called Lost Dogs Illinois, which I heard was a very useful resource. Following my friend’s advice, I put her blanket on the back deck, hoping the smell might attract her. By that logic, I guess I should have put a cheeseburger outside too.

After that, I posted her picture and the news on a St. Charles community Facebook page, and the photo got shared by at least 60 people that night. I was surprised how many people were on the page that lived near me and said they would watch out for her.

My next step was developing a flyer on MS Word with a big color photo of her taking up most of it. Finally, around midnight, I headed upstairs to my room. That night in bed, I grabbed an old stuffed polar bear. I guess I just needed something to hold onto.

The next morning, Mom left for work around 3:30 a.m. As she walked past our neighbor’s to get to her car, she later said she thought she heard a single bark. Maggie rarely barks, so she let it go. But she couldn’t shake that thought.

As for me, I posted about eight flyers in various sets of mailboxes around Whittington Course before driving to work. During my break, I called the vet clinic and a local groomer to see if anything had been reported. It wasn’t my best day at work. I don’t think I made mistakes, but I just wasn’t feeling very happy or outgoing. I actually left an hour early because I was so distracted by what could have happened to Maggie. I got home around 1:30.

Mom was there as well and we started walking through the tall grass behind the house, trying to come up with any clue as to where she might be. I dressed in sweats, because I knew I’d be going through poison ivy. We explored for maybe 20 minutes. Again, no luck.

So it was back to posting more flyers. We posted at the window at 7-11, the entrances to Fox Chase Boulevard and Keim Trail, which is where the tall grass ends. I tried to grocery store, but they took down their bulletin board years ago. Somehow, I never noticed. We got home around 3 or 3:30, starting to feel a little more concerned. I just knew we were in a pet-friendly area and if someone had her, they would have contacted us. The longer it went, the deeper my concern grew.

I went back into the basement and sat in my chair. Around 4:15, the next door neighbor called and asked if we’d found the dog. I said no. He said good luck and he’d let us know if he had any news. Fifteen minutes later, he called back. I will never forget those words.

“We found the dog.”

My eyes bulged and my pulse started racing. I jumped up from the chair and loudly asked “Where?”

He didn’t even need to answer. Immediately, I heard the familiar pounding of her paws scattering across the wooden floor above me. I hurried upstairs and she was flying through the living room like she was Usain Bolt in the Olympics. She was home. Physically, she seemed fine, she just drank a ton of water. She was gone for 22 hours, but we got her home. Thank the Lord!