Thank You!

Thank you sooooooooo very much to all that donated to my walk. The March for Babies was amazing. 6.5 miles went by in a flash - Dain, D and I completed the walk and I'm so proud of the $325 that I raised for the cause!

The walk was great - and I plan to participate every year. So - let me know if you're up to join me in 2011! Haha!

Here's a pic from the "trail" through downtown Geneva - a little message from the folks at Great Harvest Bread...it was appreciated.

Some Seattle Pictures

Just a few pictures from our wonderful trip...
YES - D had a few moments of weakness on the flight out, D had no real nap schedule, D totally deviated from his normally healthy diet, etc. But it was incredibly wonderful to get time with my beautiful new niece, my best friend/sister-in-law and brother-in-law, enjoy a lovely & unique 100+ year old hotel, breathe amazingly clean air, see mountains, visit Pike's Place Market, etc.

Prepare to walk

Well I'm back from vacation to Seattle! Super sad it's over as I had way too much fun visiting my bestie and my "mini-bestie" new niece, as well as the city that I pretty much SHOULD live in.

I promise to get some pictures up soon - but until then I have to remind myself that I have my MARCH FOR BABIES walk next weekend!! A huge thank you to all who have donated to my fundraising efforts - and it's not too late for those of you who want to contribute! The graphic on the right with the picture of D is a direct link to my fundraising page.

Thanks all! Happy walking.

Moving to a Showroom

Check out this story from Peoria's WEEK 25 News - aired on today's news. The pharmacy DOES have to move - temporarily - and thanks to a generous ex-business from Chenoa, a BIT of the weight has been lifted...

Crumbling...

You may or may not know that I'm from small-town Illinois. I grew up in a town of 1800 - went to high school with 130 (TOTAL in the school - 30 were in my class) - had cornfields in my backyard - etc. My town is an "old" town in many ways - quite literally in the age though. Some of the buildings in the downtown are 150 years old...including the building that my father owns and operates his business from, as well as the buildings surrounding it.

This gives everything so much character - it's what made me grow up appreciating old buildings, old houses (although the 100 year old house I grew up in helped that), tin ceilings, original wood flooring, etc.

This also becomes a nightmare, when a neighboring building doesn't receive the maintenance that these old structures require and this happens:
This is the rear of the building next door to my dad's pharmacy. (The back of the pharmacy is next door on the left - not in the picture). The back quite literally fell off. Apartments above and offices below were still in use until the day this happened (falling in stages) - however no one was hurt...physically.

This happened - and now with that structure in limbo waiting for decisions on what will happen - the pharmacy I've known as my second home my entire life is in limbo as well.

The pharmacy is a one story structure that has been beautifully maintained and is completely sound. However, with this three story structure leaning on 3 legs instead of 4, it poses a safety risk to the pharmacy building and anyone inside if it would topple over. The pharmacy may or may not have to move to an alternate location until that building is demolished or repaired. Yes, they can be return when all is said and done - but picking up shop and moving isn't easy when a business has been somewhere for 100+ years.

There's no answer yet, but it's not easy no matter how you slice it. It's hard to even believe this is happening, especially because my home-away-from-home is perfectly fine, just placed at risk because of someone else's negligence. Add to that the fact that the building's owner's insurance is not covering any of this.

There aren't words to describe the feeling my family has when even thinking about not having the pharmacy in it's current location. No one thought it could ever be anywhere else. Regardless of if they can return - it can only be described as feeling like a bad dream.


Here's a few articles from The Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal newspaper) about this:
April 8, 2010
March 26, 2010
March 25, 2010
March 24, 2010

The reason I picked our camera...

..although it took me forever to lay out this pic. (Click on it to see it larger)

Stinko at Updates

So I've discovered I don't blog much anymore...

Why?
Don't know really.

Maybe it's because my running, talking toddler takes up the majority of my time. Maybe it's because I don't spend much time on the computer anymore (at home). Maybe it's because I don't really have any interesting news to report. Maybe I am lazy. Who knows really?

I promise to do more. I promise to upload more photos.
I need to do this. Not only is it a nice release - but it's the closest thing I've got to a baby book for D. :(