Surprisingly Chicago

And it was just that. I wish I could have described the look on Frank's face when he arrived home to find me, Gary, the best friend, sitting at the kitchen table. Words can't describe it so I have inserted the picture below -- worth a 1000 words. He was so surprised he could barely put two words together. Frank said that he didn't recognize me at first with my longer hair and tan. He said his first thought was "who is this Dominican Baseball player my wife is dating." :) LOL (and I did) After about 10 minutes by himself Frank was able to compose himself and return for some fun. We stayed up until about midnight catching up on everything from new friends, old friends, jobs, ministry, family and the like. Best friends are great for catching up on life.
Day two was the best day for me. We cleared out the guest/office/cat/storage/junk room. While Fonzell went through the boxes and sorted out the junk from treasure, Frank and I began to tape. After the tape was done and the tarp was down the paint came out. It took us about 3 hours to do the room. . . actually about 4 but that included a reward run to Dairy Queen for blizzards 2 1/2 hours in. Hey, painting is hard work and it always helps to have a yummy promise of a goal met. It was so great to be apart of the new baby preparations. It was a high honour for a soon to be "Uncle Gary" to contribute.
Friday and Saturday we spent tooling around Chicago and Geneva. There was a giant kidney bean in Millennium Park, great views from the skyline boat tour. Dinner at the Italian restaurant was great. Geneva was a cool town also. The working windmill was very impressive. But was most impressed me was just being able to hang out with my best friend and his wife. Saturday night completed the days of surprise with a final surprise Birthday party for Frank back at the house. I cooked up a story about seeing his place of work and being able to get pictures on his truck (included, don't I look truck driverish???). After everyone yeld surprise Frank turned to me and without hesitations stated emphatically "You sit on a throne of lies." It was at that point I laughed so hard I snorted.........yeah I snorted and right in front of 20 people I never met. I am great at first impressions.
All-in-all it was a blessed time with great friends and a refreshing relaxing 5 days. I was just sad to see it end. The time was priceless and God was good to allow it to be a time of refreshment and energizing for all of us.