The Illinois Department of Agriculture has a page on the web,
http://www.agr.state.il.us/programs/consumer/egg/eggconsguide.html that guides citizens in Illinois about the usage of eggs. It gives a lot of helpful hints:

"What should I do if I think a store is mishandling eggs?
People who suspect an Illinois grocery store or other egg outlet is not upholding the law should talk to the facility manager. If the problem persists, they should call the Illinois Department of Agriculture at 1.800.582.0468, TDD 217.524.6858, FAX 217.524.7801. "

And:
"Storage Tips:Leave eggs in their original carton to help prevent them from drying out.
Store eggs at 41 degrees with the small end of the shell pointed down in the carton.
Keep eggs away from foods with strong odors, such as onions and garlic, which can affect their flavor. Do not store eggs for an extended period of time."

There are no penalties for going against an individual "mishandling eggs" in Illinois. However, Cindy and Kathleen and Mom were astonished to find that Theresa has turned eccentric at an early age. While unpacking at the hotel, Theresa pulled out of her suitcase eggs, because she wanted to make cookies on her recent visit to Buffalo.

There is no question in my mind that Theresa's storage of eggs did not take place in the original carton, nor at 41 degrees. But more to the point, all found it striking that Theresa has such disdain for eggs from Western New York! Frankly, most of us throughout the country feel that Illinois has a "Bad Egg" problem!

I always thought eggs were eggs. But Theresa swears by Illinois-produced-sold-and-bought eggs, so much so, that she placed some in her suitcase flew them to Chicago and brought with her Illinois-purchased Brown Sugar.

These two beautiful girls have always reminded me of each other, though the older she gets the more she looks like herself. But one thing I do recall without fail is that when Kathleen was younger, I never saw her with a pair of socks that did not have a hole in the toes. Her toenails were razor sharp. Without exageration, some times her toe nail would slice right through the top of her sneakers. It is a family trait:

Kathleen, Veronica and Magdalene all came back refreshed and happy to have seen everyone, but the premise behind the whole extended weekend was for the girls to get together.

God's Sense of Humor

This is what we woke up to this morning. 5:30 a.m. call that school was cancelled. "Yay! Hooray!" But it was up and at 'em this morning as they don't close down the law office. Here is what Luke came upon when he got to the office, having left his car there all weekend.







This is the time of year when one snowfall can mentally push us over the edge. Though the sun is staying up longer, it still is a challenge to smile through a snowstorm like this, unless you are Veronica and Mag who were out this morning enjoying all the fun that big snow brings.




















I also spent some time at the Pre-Cana program. I do a class on finances for engaged couples and this time around, (Kathleen and I with four other couples do about 2 to 3 of these per year), there were about 20 couples including Maureen's friend Jessica.






One of the fellows who was there was a real nice fellow, but I wish he would have dressed a bit differently. After all, this is Pre-Cana, isn't it?





































By the way, if it is lousy out as far as the weather is concerned, find a Veronica and cuddle up with her, because it makes the day go so much nicer:

The Cardinal

Kathleen loves Cardinals. You have to turn the volume way up, but after I dropped the kids off at school, I had my camera and was lucky enough to get a shot of this guy singing. To hear it you have to turn the volume WAY UP.

Mag and I went for a trip to Montreal. We had a wonderful meal, (at Baton Rouge), where our littlest one ate a whole rack of ribs and devoured everything else put in front of her. We then toured the new Place des Arts which was pretty impressive.

The show we were going to see had just been played at Carnegie Hall. So, some explanation is in order. Brad Meldhau is a jazz pianist. Anne Sophie von Otter is a Swede who sings opera but does some cross-over music.

Mag loves going to Montreal and will probably be a big-city chick.

Kathleen and I also headed up to Montreal the next night to see a favorite, Stephen Hough. What we saw was piano at its best by a player who is at the top of his profession. Though it was not recorded that evening, this is the finale as performed by Hough in England's Proms Festival a couple of years ago.

Colyn left quite the impression on the ladies of the household.

Quite the ladies' man.