Matt Damon . . . here??!

Never in a million years would anyone think that Decatur, Illinois could be famous for anything but Firestone (remember the recall?) and ADM's smog. But this week they are famous for Matt Damon. He is in town shooting a movie . . . in Decatur, Illinois . . . my hometown . . . it's pretty crazy. My friend, Vickie, knows a girl who is an "extra". And this morning I received all kinds of pictures from his shoot this week. He was downtown shooting a "snow scene" at an old Firestone tire shop that I've driven by a million times.

Remember the Ice Storm of 2006 and the apartment our family stayed in for 9 days? Well, that building back there behind Matt (I mean, "Mark Whitacre"), over his left shoulder, is where we lived.








Oh, why is he here? He is in a movie by Warner Brothers called "The Informant" based on the book "The Informant" which is about a man named Mark Whitacre, who was a top executive for ADM, my father-in-law and husband's company. Mark was an informant for the US Government for price-fixing in other big companies and in turn ended up being caught as a price-fixer himself. Boy, was he in trouble. He went to prison, blah blah blah . . . this was a big big thing. Not only because he committed a major crime, but also because he lived in a small farm town of 1800 people. This was BIG NEWS for our area.

Now, as you can see, it's turning into a movie and Matt Damon is the star. Sorta unreal, eh?

One of the craziest things of all is that Alexis happens to be in town this week and tonight she and I are heading downtown to "our" place for dinner. That is, if we even go to dinner. We know where he's staying, we both have our cameras, do you really think we'll go eat? Hmmmm . . . maybe ;c) So tonight should be interesting and fun and exciting and hopefully we're lucky and run into Matt . . . I mean, Mr. Whitacre :c) And we're going to ADM also . . . hmmmm . . . maybe we'll see him there? He is to still tape there . . . hmmmm. . . .

Oh my goodness, I am such a complete freak (as Alexis would say) :c) That's okay . . . gotta make the most of the exciting parts of life, right? :c)

Here's some more pics . . .





Update: I posted more info in the comment section!

Erin Erin Erin, oh how I miss my Erin

Oh my goodness, we had such a great time. I loved every moment, well, except finding out I was going to miss my friend's water birth. But that's okay. It was NOT Erin's fault because I would have missed it anyhow since it went soooo fast. I just felt so bad that I wasn't there. (Congrats, Lindsay!!! Lindsay was the one with the orange belly at my party and who was dressed as a . . . oh, I'm not even sure of the right word for her! Her costume . . . so super and so NOT Lindsay at ALL! She won for funniest costume.)

Anyway, Erin, she is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest, funniest (SO FUNNY!!!), most loving, spunkiest, prettiest girl I have ever met. We are so alike (not that I am any of the above), it's not even funny. I know it's not a good thing to feel this way, but I do. I am so jealous of her in-real-life friends who get to see her and spend time with her whenever they want. How blessed you all are!! I am happy to say that she and I are just 14 hours apart which is not bad at all considering she is in Canada, and a really positive thing is, there are gizillions of places we could "meet in the middle" at. (Yay!)

I wish our time together had been longer, but I'm thankful it was as long as it was (5 days!). We were up till at least midnight every night and I'm sure that will continue as we blog & email till all hours of the night every day in the future.

I got to show her the farm I grew up on, the town of 900 people that I am from, the house Neil grew up in, the hill we use to go sledding down, the house I just moved from in D-town (my first time back, I couldn't even look at the house . . . it was really hard), our wonderfully historic neighborhood that we moved from, my favorite shopping block in town which houses my favorite restaurant, Robbie's. I was able to take her to mom's house, to Allerton park, to Champaign (where the University of Illinois is), to some of my favorite shopping places in Champaign, to Starbucks (why of course -- that is one of our differences -- she doesn't drink anything coffee, not even Fraps!), to my mother-in-laws, to our mall, and to one of our favorite restaurants in downtown Champaign (Radio Maria).

She helped me put our party together -- she worked her booty off, too! -- she met all my friends and really bonded with a few -- Johanna and Heather. She got to know my kids (who happen to be the SAME ages as hers!), she got to know Neil (who is very similar to Jer -- same height even!). And she got to know me better. (I hope that's a good thing.)

She got to see how disorganized I am. She got to see how emotional I can be. She even got to pat my non-tooshie toosh. (Yes, people, I know, I do NOT have a bum.) She got to see how much I love ketchup and how much I love coffee. She got to decorate my home with her amazing interior mind's eye.

We got to do so many of our favorite things TOGETHER. In person! Face-to-face!

When we first saw each other in the airport, we didn't hesitate in hugging. We gabbed the entire way to Illinois (I picked her up in Indiana.) We knew right away that we had a million things in common. (A post to come later.) I mean, I can't even tell you how fabulous it was to meet such a special blogging friend and spend TIME with her. Lots of it. To get to know someone like her. SUCH a blessing. She was just incredible.

When I talked to Neil on the way home, I asked him a question. I said "What did you think of Erin?". Neil responded, "She was just like you, only she talked a lot more". I thought that was so funny. She does like to talk, but I love that. That's part of what makes her Erin. She makes up for my lack-of. And I love Neil's answer because I take it that that means he could almost marry her ;c)

God sent me this wonderful woman to be my friend. . . for life. We already have plans to get together again. I just cannot explain how blessed I feel.


Miss you, friend, and thank you for everything.

Mac Geeks

So Alexis comes home, hangs out with me all night, and this is what we do - play on our Macs. Call us geeks but this is why we love each other.

Who took this picture? Neil; who puts up with our mac geekiness. Oh yes, and notice the food. We cannot get together without EATING! (Duh.)

Illinois' Big Arrival . . . Alexis

Well, Alexis has been picked up from the airport and brought back to good ol' Decatur. And it was so fabulous to have the opportunity to do this - bring her "back". I have really missed her and that was reinforced yesterday when I spent a whole day with her and we had the best time ever - almost like she was never gone. These are the moments you long for in a friendship. That is when you know how true and rare it is.

It was 4 degrees yesterday and when she got off that plane, she walked straight into a brick wall of cold Illinois reality. It made her appreciate where she came from, North Carolina's 60 degree January flip-flop weather. Jamie and I had a pact that every time Alexis brought up NC's weather, that we would just ingnore her. hehe. But Alexis sucked it up, frozen teeth and all, to spend a day full of fun with us - her two very favorite people. Now that is friendship.

So what did we do? Well, we spent a long while at Barnes & Noble (one of our favorite hang-outs), then went and saw a movie - my first in probably 2 years!, Catch and Release. It had gotten bad reviews but we all loved it. It was a girly GREAT. I already am on the lookout for the soundtrack at a good price or else I will have to buy it on itunes. I love Jennifer Garner and "Barry" looked so dang HOT. (drool) We were one of the only ones in the theater, which is always such fun. You can laugh and talk and it doesn't even matter. We had a great time.

Then off to dinner and drinks (something else we do so well together) and then shopping (another girly given!). Got some excellent deals at The Children's Place - an additional 50% off already discounted items, plus a coupon for 20% off of that! - woohoooo! and I came out with 2 bags full - big bags full - so shhhhh don't tell Neil, they are still in Jamie's car (hehe). And then our drive home was quite interesting, but I'll just end it with that. It was quite entertaining and fun.

So today is a lazy day, and then the big big big Bears game. We can't WAIT! Let's party like it's 1986! (GO Bears!!!!)

So . . . what a great weekend. Can't wait for the rest of the week. I think we are going to go play Bingo tomorrow night, drive out to our new lot one day, have lunch at Robbie's and then have a slumber party Tues night before I have to take Alexis back on Wed. I'm so glad she is here. Now if Jen were here, too, life would be oh so perfect. (*smile*)

Girly time here we come!

Guess what!? My lovely dearest of the dears, Alexis, is coming "home" this weekend! I cannot wait to see her! I am so freaking excited! Plan is to pick her up from the airport tomorrow and have a girly day, she, Jamie and I . . . no kids!! We're going to see a movie (movie, what's a movie?, my first in probably almost 2 years for me), shop (hello, of course!), eat (again, a given with women friends!), and probably have some drinky-drinks. Tuesday night Alexis is spending the night and we are going to have a slumber party while watching American Idol, eating, gossiping, laughing, all the things we do so well together. I'm hoping in there somewhere she can show me some of her grand organizational skills which I lack big time. Gotta take her out to our new lot, and future home forevermore, so she can see the "before" and then one day the "after". We pick her up at the aiport at noon tomorrow. Wish her safe travels and fun time while in good ol' Illinois with her very favorite people in the whole wide world (hehe).