Posted by missjunebug on December 30, 2010
missjunebug can’t get waited for 2010 to end (She thanks her JBDad-may he rest in peace-for that little expression!). O what a year it’s been!
Here’s her mixed bag of medical mishaps, mayhem, and monumental events:
Diagnosis: The Big C with the Big O! Hysterectomy followed! Then chemo, then pelvic radiation, then follow-up. And did she mention springing a leak in her poor little belly button post surgery! You cannot make this stuff up! Ree Diculous. missjunebug has officially entered her post-patient C-survivor status and would most definitely like to keep it that way.
An outrageous trip to Africa by way of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo was squeezed in between moments of medical mayhem! Now missjunebug understands firsthand why ElderJB loves it there!
JBDad’s passing filled with grief, regret, sadness, celebration, and so much more. Life for JBDad was circumscribed by a mind that no longer supplied the “I” of identity. But missjunebug and her JBbro remember the real JBDad with love and appreciation.
ElderJB makes an unexpected trip home to offer some TLC to his JBMom! What a nice break from thinking about yes, you guessed it: medical mayhem!
TinyJB graduates with pomp, circumstance, and a temporary job! Go Irish! Easily one of the best weekends of missjunebug’s life and she’s got the pictures to prove it. Now if the economy can just cooperate and cut her TinyJB some slack for securing his next gig!
Eclipse chasing never felt so good: Tahiti rocked! Hao Atoll rolled! And all the pictures Mr.JB took were prizeworthy. missjunebug and Mr.JB look forward to 2012 for the next total solar eclipse in Australia!
The last blast of Irish football occurred ND-Michigan weekend, where, alas, the Irish went down to defeat due to QB1 difficulties. But things still hopped all weekend long at the Backer, the tailgate parties, and the post-loss non-celebration dinner in downtown South Bend! Woo-hoo!
Onto Wisconsin Thanksgiving reunion where all Mr.JB clan minus ElderJB gathered in Whitefish Bay for freezing temperatures(!) and steaming hot Thanksgiving fare! What fun! What family! And the Lakeside Brewery Tour and Polka-Fest rounded out the holiday weekend perfectly!
All missjunebug’s Christmas dreams came true with the best tree ever and the most fun family gathering of the JBclan! The junebugs ate too much! partyied too much! spent too much! but wouldn’t change a thing!
O what a year it’s been! One more celebration beckons thanks to her dear p.i.c. (pictured above!) who will host this year’s (and last year’s! and the year before’s!!?) New Year’s Eve Rockin’ Blow-out in the Burbs! Mr.JB and missjunebug are off to BevMo to score some champagne and Godiva White Chocolate Liquer as their contribution to the fete!
Fun times ahead as they ring out this outta control 2010 and look forward to a better, heathier, happier 2011! May it be so with you and yours!
Posted by missjunebug on December 26, 2010
The junebugs had the best Christmas EVER! Food Fun: Racine Kringles, those magical circles of pastry dough, fruit filling, and lots and lots of icing were the best surprise! And the junebugs were enrolled in the Kringle of the Month Club, a club missjunebug has long aspired to join! Thanks, Ricks!!! Delicious truffles from New Hampshire! Thanks, Landys!!! What delicious fun!
Only to be topped by perhaps the most entertaining gifts for the kids ever, pictured here:
Surprise! It flies! Thanks, JBUnc &JBAunt! Photo by ElderJB
The Helizone Firebird Helicopter!!! Â It did take a full morning of post unwrapping tinkering to get those pesky copters off the ground, but when they took flight, they were unstoppable and indestructible!!!! It was truly a Christmas Miracle!!!!
Forget the Canon60D Camera for Elder JB and the MacAir for TinyJB! Â Those high tech toys didn’t hold a candle to the Helizone Firebird!
TinyJB shows the love for his new Christmas toy! Photo by ElderJB
Posted by missjunebug on December 19, 2010
missjunebug and her fam. favor the real thing when it comes to Christmas trees. Many of her friends have made the sensible move to the boxable, artificial tree they can depend upon year after year, no fuss, no hassle, but the junebugs keep fighting the good fight of trekking to the tree lot, choosing a fresh tree, wrestling it onto and off of the SUV, hauling it up the stairs, hammering in the stand, and setting it up in the middle of the Great Room. Yeah! That was fun!
And this year was no exception! Except that ElderJB chose an exceptional tree: 10 feet tall!. Thanks, ElderJB!!! But somehow it all worked out: ElderJB, MG (ElderJB’s best girl), missjunebug, and Mr.JB were able to get all 10 feet of it into the little Hacienda without a hitch! Then began the many-hands-make-light-work decorating mission! MG and Mr.JB on the lights, ElderJB and missjunebug on the ornaments. And before missjunebug could say “Twas the night before Christmas” three times fast, that gorgeous hunk of evergreen was shiny and bright with lights and bulbs and a lifetime of junebug ornamental memorabilia from grade school on! What used to take missjunebug a week to decorate by herself was done in one delightful evening (cue Christmas carols and brandied eggnog!).
Whether your tree is the real thing or the perfect imitation, enjoy its unique beauty and decorate it with the spirit of Christmas!
Posted by missjunebug on December 10, 2010
Thanks for this, Ms.JBSis-in-Law! Photo by mjb2010
missjunebug is going through her usual failure of confidence that strikes this time of year. Did she buy the right gifts? Did she spend too much on some, not enough on others? Is her house decorated well enough? Will her cookies measure up? Will Mr.JB finish stringing all those pesky Christmas lights? Will her Christmas visitors approve of what they see and experience at the junebugs’ little Hacienda? It’s enough to drive a bug buggy. She confided to a friend recently that she felt a little like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Make that a reindeer.
Here’s her checklist of what still needs to be done:
â—ŠÂ EVERYTHING!
Wish her luck as she whips up some Spritz Cookies, Chex Mix, and dinner menus with one hand and wraps those questionable gifts with the other. She won’t even go into what still needs to be cleaned up and made habitable! Ah…the holidays! Fun times!
Posted by missjunebug on December 8, 2010
It was twenty years ago today
Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play.
It was thirty years ago today
John Lennon was too soon called away.
missjunebug still misses her favorite Beatle. She remembers seeing the Beatles in concert on September 18, 1964 at Dallas Memorial Auditorium along with thousands of other arm-waving and screaming teens and pre-teens. And yes, she screamed, too: “John, John, John!” from her balcony seat. The concert, including encores, lasted a grand total of about 25 minutes, but it still remains one of the highlights of her life. It was the best 5 dollars and 5o cents she ever spent!
May you rest in the peace you imagined, John.
