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Find us at McGonigal's Pub! ![]() 105 S. Cook Street, Barrington IL 60010 847-277-7400 Web: www.mcgonigalspub.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/mcgonigals
Update - November 22, 2010 (and
September 28) Doris was the sister of Irene McGonigal, my grandmother and the mother of my father Dennis. A little over three years ago Gene and Doris celebrated their 50 year wedding anniversary. The site is still up but unfortunately it was never developed. However, our family did make the trip for the event, which turned out to be a great and special family reunion. They may be gone from this life, but will remain in our hearts and memories forever.
Update - July 5, 2010 Life took a relatively dramatic change for me once the businesses (pub and wine bar) were opened, primarily in terms of the ability to do anything outside of work. For the first couple months, 16-20 hour DAYS pretty much EVERY DAY were normal shifts for my work. Counting January, it was over 4½ MONTHS until I finally had my first full day off. Stress levels were at an all-time high, and you could really see it and how it affected me. Yes, sleep became a more precious commodity than eating. You never realize how valuable personal and family time can be until you have absolutely none to spare. Fortunately this was something I was planning for, though admittedly it was even more than anticipated. The GREAT news is that the businesses have been nothing short of tremendously successful and have literally exceeded all our expectations. This was not just a result of hard work; I owe a BIG THANKS for the support from my family and friends, our excellent staff, plus of course the great community and people of Barrington. We could not have done this without all of you! It's true that life will never be the same for me again, but the goal is to come up with an acceptable balance. With good, trustworthy staff in place and getting myself better organized and educated in this industry, allowing myself some quality time off for the truly important things (i.e., family and some R&R) will become more frequent. The new "normal" for me will be different and much busier than the old, but I'm confident that I can make it all work out. My "Deep Thoughts Weekly" mailer has returned from it's nearly four month hiatus, so be sure to get on the mailing list for weekly funnies plus the latest news on family and the pub. As time permits I'll get some additional updates to this page, including more streamlining as mentioned in my February posting and of course some long overdue AJ pictures (last updated two years ago, and boy has he been growing up!). Don't hold your breath waiting, but I'll get to it someday sooner than later. Take care everyone, and see you at the pub!
Update - February 14, 2010 This has unfortunately become an all-consuming process which has caused many things in my life to suffer, including family life and my sanity at times! However, I am extremely fortunate to have a wonderful wife and child who not only love and support me but somehow manage to tolerate my behavior. I talk about the pub being a “dream” but it will never come close to matching the dream I live every day with Laura and AJ. Without them I’m a lost soul, and though at times I may lose a bit of focus on what’s genuinely important, I want them to know how much I truly love them and how much they will always mean to me. Regarding the future of this site, updates to McGonigal.org will become few & far between as it will be going in a more streamlined direction. As you can see I’ve started some changes now to the main page but shortly the entire site and lots of the crusty old stuff will be cleaned up quite a bit more. The goal is for this to be more of a static destination site, with minor exceptions for general updates on things I do regularly (such as the Deep Thoughts Weekly mailer) and the occasional important family announcement. Believe it or not I massively stress out about not consistently updating this site, not adding in new pictures or quotes or other things, and generally ignoring my unimportant self-imposed responsibilities. However, there is simply too much going on in my life now, so it’s time to reduce and eliminate what I can so that the important things – such as family, work and sanity – don’t suffer due to my own self-inflicted mental torture! If you are an occasional visitor of this site you know it really
hasn’t been updated much at all over the past year, despite several
promises to do so. Please understand that I certainly do NOT have
any plans on shutting down the site, but if you are looking for more
consistent updates and interactivity I would suggest joining Facebook as
I really have spent more time there (hmmmm…maybe one big reason why this
site has suffered). It's easy and free to join, and then you just
need to "friend" me to start getting all the updates! Anyway, I thank you all for your understanding and in the near future
you will
see some final progress. Have a great 2010 my
friends, and I hope to see you at the pub this spring! |
In
Memory of my mother...
Mary McGonigal 1944-2006
You will always be with us.
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