July 2008 Archives

At like 10:30 p.m. Monday I was all ready to get into my PJs and start settling down when my boyfriend pops into the room and says "Lets go get ice cream!"

Since I'm trying to watch what I eat I immediately say no. Of course he proceeds to grab onto me and starts begging and using the cute baby voice and at which point I give in. But not without a lecture on what a bad influence he is and when I get fat I don't want to hear any complaining.

Once we get to the first ice cream place it is closed because who wants ice cream at 11 p.m. on a Monday, right? We then drive 10 minutes further to find an open place where I order a small soft serve twist trying to be conservative and my boyfriend orders a large turtle sundae.

I received a warning e-mail from the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce and Industry Friday and thought I would pass on the message.

Sounds like someone is trying to scam our local businesses. Don't let them fool you!

It's amazing where you can be when something in life occurs that makes you take a minute and think.

For instance I was in line waiting to return something in one our local big box stores when a woman came in line behind me with one item in her hand so I told her to step in front of me since I had several items.

She was so appreciative you would think I handed her $20 and told her to buy herself something nice.

But what was even more surprising was what happened next.

It is an unwritten rule that you are not supposed to grocery shop when you are hungry, but unfortunately when your schedule is limited you sometimes just don't have a choice.

So as I was pushing my overstuffed cart, in high heels mind you and while eating White Cheddar crackers, I told myself it was OK that I was buying too much because very little of it was junk food.

But this gave little comfort when my grocery bill was $150. After I grumbled to myself and gave the lady her money, I carefully put my receipt into my wallet and stuffed all the bags back into the cart.

Of course the front left wheel on my cart kept pulling it the other way and as I fought with it to the door it took everything in my power not to kick the darn thing.

As if spending too much and fighting a broken cart in heels wasn't frustrating enough the receipt woman stops me at the door. She didn't stop the old couple in front of me or the lady with four kids behind me, but me - the one who is obviously not having a good shopping experience considering I had to pull all my weight to stop the cart from hitting her as she stepped in front of me.

Tell me; are these receipt people purely there to make shopping that much more difficult?

This past Saturday I officially became the best daughter ever.

Well at least until my sister comes up with a clever gift by Christmas and one-ups me. But until then, I will relish in the joy of finally making my dad as happy as he makes me all the time.

Here is the gift that made my dad grin from cheek to cheek:

As The Herald News becomes savier with new media, such as these blogs, we run into the occasional bumps in the road.

A somewhat consistent one seems to be people having trouble posting blog comments. This is rather unfortunate since I have been soliciting comments on the blog I wrote a few days ago on John Swezy's passing.

It seems many have tried to post their memories of John and they are not coming through for my approval. Supposedly the problem is that people are either leaving out required information such as an e-mail address or are incorrectly typing the letters the blog asks you to copy before it posts.

As frustrating as this is, I'm asking you all to please try posting again. Before you go to hit "post" try copying your text first. You can simply highlight the text and right click and select copy. Then when you post if you are told there is an error please just e-mail me your copied comments and I will post your comments.

My e-mail is cchapman@scn1.com.

Again I apologize for the trouble, but truly appreciate you all continuing to read and your attempts to comment.

Angels of Hope Inc. is one of those organizations everyone wishes didn't have to exist, but are so thankful it does.

Angels of Hope is a Morris-based nonprofit organization that helps those dealing with the emotional or physical absence of a child. The group provides support and, in 2007, began giving out grants for burial costs and to help couples become parents.

This group is there for those who lost a child before birth or an adult child years ago.

They do this because they know the pain caused by losing a child never goes away, therefore the much-needed support shouldn't either.

To keep the child's memory alive more than the pain, the group built a memorial garden at Campbell Park in Coal City. An angel statue stands in the middle of the park and is surrounded by bricks that people can have engraved with the names of those they lost.

As I do every other Monday night, I will be covering the Morris council meeting tonight, but I will be doing so with a heavy heart.

On a normal night I would arrive in the basement of City Hall a few minutes early in order to greet the regular attendees and discuss the recent news. But mostly to get my fill of the one and only John Swezy hug.

A John Swezy hug always felt like home.

Former alderman John Swezy died Friday. You can read The Herald News article that ran Saturday here.

You may also read his obit on his blog here.

Even after John lost the coin toss forcing him out of his alderman position last year, he still attended every council meeting his illness would allow.

And despite his need to walk with a cane, he got up from his front row seat and met me at the media table with open arms every time.

Come summer most kids shut down the learning part of their brain and concentrate purely on fun in the sun. Such things as swimming, biking and staying up late are the only things that seem to fill their little heads in the warm months.

But just last week four Morris kids found a way to still be outside and "help the needy." Not because their parents told them they had to, just because they wanted to.