This funnel web weaver has a wonderful spot right by the grill… and as long as she’s outside, it’s fine with me. She has a leg span of about 3 inches and was very tricky to photograph because she darts back into the protected funnel part of the web if we get too close.

In other garden news, I had to hack off the tops of both tomato plants this morning as they are growing waaaay over the top of their 6 foot stakes. Hopefully this will encourage more fruit!

While we were in Chicago (my parents actually live in the NW suburbs), we made it into the city to have dinner at my sister’s condo. We broke in her new grill with burgers and brats while enjoying the skyline view. The Hancock building is the tallest building on the left, and the Sears tower is all the way to the right. Below is a panoramic shot as taken by Eric on her balcony around 7:30pm… (click on the photo to see a bigger version)

Internet, meet Riesling! Tonite was our successful introduction and we’re hoping to bring her home on Saturday. We can’t wait…

And yes, we’re pretty sure she can receive radio signals from Siberia (when the atmosphere is right :)

I don’t typically write about my family here because I know they occasionally read this site, and frankly, I don’t want to tick anyone off. Regrettably, my dad read something negative I wrote about a family trip a few years ago and was offended, so now I keep the family mentions more along the lines of: “Hey, we’re in Florida visiting my parents!” or “My sister graduated from PA school!”

This has been working just fine until recently but we use this space to let everyone know what is going on with us, and something has been going on for the last few weeks that hasn’t been mentioned here.

My mom is in the hospital. And it’s serious.

This was the reason for the last minute trip to Chicago last weekend. She’s in the CCU (critical care unit), but she’s more or less stable at the moment. I have a million facts and details swimming around in my head; suffice it to say that we are all more than a little worried. She’s only 58 years old.

I hope the next time I write about my family I will be reporting something good, happy, and positive. If it’s the kind of thing you do, please pray for us.

Frankly, we’re rather tired of the Mel Gibson story, but Newsweek’s Rabbi Marc Gellman wrote an interesting opinion piece on the whole saga this week - “What really matters in the Gibson case.” Check it out when you have a minute.

This pic was taken from Lauren’s new condo in Chicago- great view!

They can’t control the weather but the 2 hour delay is why we are now sitting on the runway waiting for the storm to clear. Grr.

Conversations like this happen between us all the time… :)