Aaron Ewer
Aaron Ewers thoughts about everything

Last weekend was a holiday for most people but I had to work all three days, so it wasn’t much of a holiday for me. I did donate to the veterans group selling poppies at the Kroger and I watched fireworks Sunday night courtesy of the lake’s water park, so I had a little bit of celebration. Didn’t get to take advantage of any of the Memorial Day sales at the stores - actually didn’t even get to read the newspaper to see what was on sale until yesterday.

So this weekend we’re going to go shopping and do all the honey-do list items that we can cram into two days. I’ve already checked the internet for discount coupons and my favorite site had some great deals. With the price of gas at $3.85 a gallon, we’re looking harder for ways to save money on other purchases and coupons are an easy way to save with just a little forethought.

We have to buy a baby gift for the new little nephew. Right off I found discount code promotions from Fisher Price, TikeTech, Safety 1st, Kiddopotamus, Evenflo and Kidsline and we’ll be giving that top priority on Saturday morning. The hospitals send new mothers home so quickly now that it is hardly worth ordering flowers for the mother, but I wanted to send something to my sister-in-law on the good chance that they will deliver the flowers this afternoon or at the latest tomorrow morning before she heads home with the baby.

We have to do a lot of yard work on Sunday - there’s little chance of rain and the weeds have taken over parts of the lawn. I’ll get some gardening and lawn care supplies and tackle those chores Sunday morning. If all goes well, I can be finished in time to throw some steaks on the grill and settle down for the NASCAR race in Dover with a couple of cold ones. Or, if the yard work takes too long, we’ll still have the steaks but we’ll cozy up on the couch to watch some movies to wind down.

I love Chicago. It’s my favorite “big city” to go for business or for pleasure. I’m booking our flight and getting tickets from a ticket broker so we can go watch the Cubs vs the Cardinals this summer.

There’s so much to do and see in the Windy City - and hundreds of good places to eat all kinds of food, especially steaks and chops. One of my favorite restaurants in Chicago is the Chicago Chop House. It is a classic Chicago bar and restaurant and a must do for anyone who loves steak with lots of atmosphere. Anything on the menu is guaranteed to be great, and the wine list is spectacular.

In the summer you can charter a sail on one of the tall ships out on the Lake. Put that on your “bucket list.” And if you can’t fit that in on your first trip, at least take a river and lake boat tour - it’s great fun and you learn a few things about the city, too.

I read the Chicago Tribune for news you can’t get in the other daily papers. If nothing else, read the great weekly column by Garrison Keillor, humorist, author, and perhaps best known as the radio host of “A Prairie Home Companion.”

A friend of mine is devoted to cutting horses and has a large piece of land in Texas that she wants to develop for her horses. She moved down there last year and started building a 5 stall barn. Thinking that is should be completed by now, I called her yesterday to say hi and just touch base.

The barn is about 80% finished and it sounds like it is gorgeous. She did everything top shelf, including custom made stall doors made of iron and then powder coated to her specifications.

When it is finished next month the contractor has scheduled a photo shoot with a local magazine to show off his work and all the personal touches. I can’t wait to see it!

Of course, the old saying goes, you have to spend money to make money. Sometimes that’s true for you have to spend money to save money, too. That’s why I buy in bulk at the warehouse clubs and shop for end of season sales, like the snow ski and snowboards that go on sale in May every year.

My son is great on a snowboard - we’ve been taking him to the ski resorts with us every winter since he was born. He has a lot of friends that skateboard but have never been to the slopes, so I know he will be a natural on a skateboard, and perhaps some of his friends will have the chance to try a snowboard now that they are getting older.

The snowboard that we bought last year we got online from a great site, called Christy Sports, that specializes in snowboards and ski gear. Right now there are huge savings on snowboards - I saw prices at up to 40% off the list prices we paid last fall at the start of the season. Of course, paying the full list price at the beginning of the season means you get the newest styles and the latest technologies. But when I’m buying Burton snowboards for my 6 year old, it’s OK for the snowboard to be last year’s style when I can save a lot of money.

The site I used has down gloves, all kinds of jackets, boots and bags. I like the way you can shop by brand name or by product, and their clearance tab is the first place I look.

Saw the video clip of a pit crewman bouncing off the racetrack when Danica’s car ran into him today. The newscast says that he is in the hospital with relatively minor injuries, a concussion plus cuts and scrapes on his face. He’s lucky it wasn’t much worse and I’ve seen worse. From the video clip it seems like he wasn’t even looking at the approaching car and never saw it coming.

There was a short interview with Danica and she looked pretty haggard. Interestingly, she did not express anything that could be used against her later as admitting any fault or responsibility in the accident. She just said that she was glad to hear that he is OK and hoped that he got back to the track soon.