I was pleasantly surprised to receive an envelope adressed "to the parents of..." my daughter in her homework folder the other day. It was in a "fancy" envelope, so I knew it had nothing to do with bad behavior or the like.

It turned out to be an announcement that my daughter's artwork was selected to be displayed at our local mega-library and an invitation to an "Artists' Reception" tonight.

I'm guessing, unlike downtown gallery openings, they won't have little plastic cups of wine lined up next to exhibit brochures. We are excited nonetheless, and plan to head over to the reception as a family, take pictures, and then enjoy a restaurant meal at one of the many eateries adjacent to the library area in downtown Arlington Heights.

My husband fashioned a security system for our Wisconsin cabin with a webcam and a dial-in pc. He checks it a few times a week, mostly to marvel at the deer or turkey grazing on our lawn. Yesterday he noticed that sometime between Friday and Saturday, out back door went from closed and locked to wide open!

He notified me, somewhat worried, and said he would drive up after work and jet down early in the morning sohe could still make it to work Tueday. It is a 3 hour, 15 minute drive from home to there.

I had nothing onmy agenda, and I had just put the kid on the school bus. If he could make it home early enough to get her off the bus, why shouldn't I drive up during daylight hours? So, I quickly packed up the van, and decided, since I was a bit apprehensive, to take my trusy personal bodyguard: Megan the Scottish terrier.

I knew it would be chilly and damp up there, but I did not anticipate the amount of SNOW and fog I encountered - nearly white-out conditions- on the highway! Fortunately the downpour only lasted for a few miles and a good thing - as my winshield wiper blades began to fray!

Before heading to the cabin I headed into town. First, to get new wiper blades. Second, to call the county sheriff to aid my "investigation" into the open-door mystery.

The cops up there are SO helpful. They advised me that they couldn't get a car there right away but why don't I get myself some lunch and then they'd call my cell when they were on their way. They also advised me NOT to enter the house before a sheriff got there and investigated first.

While polishing off my chicken tenders and onion rings at a local diner, I got the call, packed up everything in a doggie bag, and headed up higway 13. When I pulled into the driveway, the sheriff was waiting for me in his car.

He told me he already went through the house and there appeared to be no sign of forced entry. I was relieved to hear that. As we approached the door in question, I noticed the very large, old, tv antenna lying on the ground next to the house, completely torn away from the chimney. I knew my husband purchased a new antenna, and I assumed he removed the old one in anticipation of installing the new.

I walked through the house with the sheriff, we looked for any sign of robbery but there was not so much as a grain of rice missing. The sheriff suggested that since it had been so windy over the weekend that likely a large gust of wind rattled the house enough that the door jamb shook and the door came unlatched. I found this theory to be somewhat plausible. I thanked the sheriff for his time and proceeded to call my husband.

"The sheriff wondered if the antenna got blown off the house, but I explained that you took it down last weekend and..."

My husband interupted, "The antenna is DOWN? I didn't take it down! Did it hit the house? Check the roof!"

My inspection as well as the prone position of the felled antenna offered evidence that the cabin was spared any damage.

"I can't believe it didn't smash the porch in," noted hubby.

"Well, you see, its a good thing that SOMEONE in this family prays on a regular basis!" I replied.

Below: the mystery solved - the antenna blown off the house.

I have been activie in a committee at Church for about 18 months. It has been a wonderful experience, allowing me to utilize my "talents," share insights with other adults, and help my parish and local community.

We got a new member that someone (I"m not sure *who*) nominated to join our group. And I am on the verge of quitting because of this person.

I thought I was alone in the level if discomfort I felt as I listened to this new member complain, criticize, and through these unjustified negativities, reveal a lack of true connectivity and understanding of our parish community. A wonderful woman I work with on the committe approached me and said, "Is it me, or is The New Person completely ABRASIVE?"

Abrasive.

That word is the perfect description, because it not only indicates the stinging attitude, and coarse mannerisms, but also the physical rawness of the vocal intonation used.

I'm going to nickname this person "sandpaper" - because he/she sure as sh*t rubs me the wrong way!!

I have been spending less time writing and blog-browsing, and more time getting dirt under my nails as I work in my garden.

One of the most troublesome weeds I have sparred with over the years is burdock. It has a thick, extensive root that is very difficult to extricate from the ground once the plant is established. However, I just learned that the root is edible, and, once soaked for 5 minutes or so, resembles shredded carrot.

Since I rarely run out of carrots in my 'fridge, I decided not to "harvest this plant and instead opted to use my fave frugal and earth-frindly gardening method for weed control: newspaper.

Just rake away any mulch, lay down sheets of newpaper over weed-prone areas (torn if needed to allow desired plants to pop through) and cover the paper with mulch/wood chips. Water can soak through to the ground but weeds have a tough time popping through.

I was able to control a nutsedge problem in the garden with this method, and I'm hoping for similar success with the blasted burr-releasing burdock.

Trivia: a Swiss inventor took his dog for a walk and was curious about the burrs that stuck to the dog's fur. He removed these burdock seed pods (cockleburs) from the fur, viewed under a microcope and marveled at the ingenious hook-and-loop design that nature provided for this plant's seed dispersal. Guess what he invented? Click here for the answer.

I am tired of hearing the sound bites coming from my home state of PA in which voters declare, "I'm excited that my vote matters this year."

Why? Because EVERYONE'S vote should matter both in the primaries and general election.

I was visiting with a friend from Michigan last weekend and, of course, her vote mattered naught toward the primaries because of bizarre scheduling rules.

Why, if we are capable of a national general election, are these insane random-dates assigned to various states for primaries? And then voters in "follow-up" states are led to base decisions on stupid clips (and even less substantive "debates") hosted by our rapidly-disintigrating-into-full-blown-tabloidism media.

We need to have a NATIONAL primary day. Let VOTERS decide who their "team" will be, not "superdelegates" and other backroom dealmakers. The conventions can still happen, but they could be for team-building, workshopping, and other productive activities to get the foot soldiers of each party revved-up and prepared for the general election.

Then, we have the debacle of the electoral college. Enough! One person, one vote. That is democracy. Right now...I have no idea what the hell you call our system. Any suggestions for names?

Right now I'm leaning toward "The Greased Palm and Sound Bite Express" Suggestions are welcomed and will be considered by committee, then the leaders from that meeting will be brough before a renaming caucus, and ratified by ANOTHER committee of delegates.

My daughter's First Holy Communion was a wonderful day for all involved. We were blessed with decent weather, and though it wasn't needed, she insisted on wearing the complete Communion ensemble - which included not only the dress, veil, shoes (and hairpiece!) but also her white rabbit jacket.

Here are some cute snaps of her at home bfore Mass, with me and our wonderful, caring priests, and enjoying some of her gifts at the after-party that I hosted at a local "upscale" Italian restaurant. You can see the hairdo in the pic without the veil.

Despite the media hooplah about the Pope in the US, I'm more exicted about the visitor who has been enjoying my pond and birdfeeder over the past few days:

Like many Chicagoans, after a particularly brutal and extended winter, I have been anxious for Spring to begin in earnest. I've been calling all of my local garden centers to find out what sorts of outdoor plants and flowers they have in stock. For the past few weeks, the answer has been either, "Nothing yet, but any day now..." or "Well, we have pansies but that's about it."

I called one location yesterday and as the garden manager got on the phone with, "Well, we have pansies..." he surprised me with, "And we also got in some petunias, herbs and vegetables."

Petunias! Herbs! Hurrah!

Although not among my top faves in the gardening realm, it sounded like there would be enough variety to create the windowboxes and container gardens with which I dress my outdoor "rooms." I was pleasantly surpised to find some accent plants,like dusty miller, to go with the early flowering specimens.

 I put together an outdoor herb garden of chives, rosemary and lavender. And I also took a chance on a container of blazing orange rannunculus. It makes me feel warmer already:

Last night I did a "trial run" of a princess-like hairdo on my daughter. Next weekend (the 19th) she makes her First Holy Communion -and of course we couldn't buy a simple headband with a bit of white tulle attached. We went for the creme-de-la-creme bejeweled tiara crown with double-layered veil, seed pearls scattered on the veil and mixed in with rhinestones on the crown.

My kiddo is like me in terms of personal style: if you are gonna do it, do it to the HILT! Not only did we procure the most fabulous headpice for the ceremony, but, since it is so large and weighty, we got an artificial hairpiece to clip on to her short ponytail. Yes, she is wearing a sort of wig-let for her communion! Of course the updo looks fantastic (the hairpiece resembles a pontytail of ringlet curls) and matches her hair color exactly. But it truly has a practical purpose as well: since her hair is too short for a bun or true ponytail, we pull her hair back in sections, then clip the hairpiece in,and wrap it around the stumpy "natural" ponytail. This then offers a very secure place in which I use combs and bobby pins to hook the crown/veil into. I'll post photos once the big day arrives.

Seeing her looking ever so regal reminded me of a time in the not-so-distant past when I wore a tiara of my own! Believe it or not, for my 25th birthday party, I decided to purchase a silver tiara from a costume shop. I decided I'd go to the party dressed in SILVER (after all it was my 25th - "silver jubille" birthday!) I remember taking WEEKS to find a silver lurex t-shirt. I finally happened upon one in Saks Fifth Avenue somewhere on the Mag Mile after exhausting less pricey shopping venues.

Back in those days, when not wearing wigs, I often styled my red hair into a flip hairdo with the aid of nothing more than a teasing comb and curling iron. Here is the result on that happy occassion:

I had 101 plans to spruce up our home/property prior to the arrival of my family next weekend. Virtually NONE of it got done, largely due to uncooperative weather and shrinking bank accounts.

I had settled in onat least CLEANING the house thoroughly and was feeling pleased with the results...and then my insane dogs peed not once but TWICE on the living room carpet. This, after I had virtually eliminated (no pun intended!) all traces of previous accidents.

Today I have nothing on my schedule and its drizzly and cold outside, so I'm staying in grubby sweats and scouring the house yet again in hopes that I can maintain some of the sparkle until next weekend.