Tag: elsa

A visit from the girls

In my life, there are two sets of people I call “the girls” and context is everything. When talking about Amy & Rachel, they’re “the girls.” Also when talking about judiang and elsaf, they’re “the girls.” In this particular case, I’m talking about the latter. (Though next week, the folks and I are going to be visiting the girls, and I’ll mean the former.)

Judi arrived Friday and I picked her up from the airport. We had lunch at Steak & Shake, popped into Meijer for a few supplies for the weekend, popped back at my house so I could talk to the guys working on the house, then finally made our way to the Lake (stopping at Wagner’s for ice and a few more supplies).

The folks were already there (I’m usually late to my own parties), so I spent some time chatting with them. Then Becky and Dean arrived and we chatted more. Then I fixed supper – grilled hot dogs & hamburgers. Mom brought macaroni salad and some dips for chips. Then Becky, Judi, mom and I played two games of pinochle, which Judi and I won. Woohoo!

By 11pm, though, Judi and I were alone again. We geeked out on the computers for a bit, then headed for bed.

We got up a bit late yesterday and eventually headed to Waffle House in Sidney for a late breakfast (aka, a brunch). A return to the Lake for more vegging, reading, and computing. Elsa didn’t arrive until 4 or so, and the folks arrived soon after. I didn’t get around to the grocery yet for more supplies (I’m not very efficient on the supply front) so I did that while everyone got stuff ready for supper. (See, I suck at this being hostess thing.)

When I’d returned, I grilled the ribs which Elsa had prepared ahead of time (and grilled them to her specifications) and we ate wonderful ribs w/ a bourbon barbecue sauce and fresh corn on the cob (supplied by mom from a local farmer’s market). Tasty tasty, and very filling. The folks headed out before dark and missed out on dessert (but assured me they were too full). I then stoked up the fire and the girls and I sat out & watched it burn down.

Once we returned indoors, we had dutch apple pie ala mode (courtesy of Wagner’s grocery). I finally watched ep 1 of Sherlock before going to sleep. Hopefully we’ll get to see ep 2 tonight.

For breakfast this morning, Elsa made us pancakes (blueberry pancakes) and sausage. Right now, Judi’s napping, Elsa’s knitting, and I’m typing this up. We may go see Inception later today. It’s very lovely here at the Lake this weekend.

Fireworks et al

Alas, elsaf is driving home as I type this. It was lovely seeing her again and I hope her drive back is smooth & uneventful.

After our fun time at Taste on Thursday, we spent most of the day relaxing. Toward supper time, Elsa cooked up Rogan Josh (a lamb curry) and Jasmine rice. Very yummy. Since we were nearly out of Bailey’s ice cream, I went to the market in judiang‘s building and got us each a pint of something. We finally got Judi to watch The Princess Bride. I think she liked it, but she did miss several jokes cuz the sound set up wasn’t quite right.

Friday was the day of the Grant Park Fireworks, so our focus of the day was making sure we’d be ready at 8pm to get to the penthouse to watch. I took a short walk in the morning to Dunkin Donuts to get us breakfast. I also walked with Judi to take the poochies for their morning walk. More relaxing, then lunch at a nearby diner/delicatessen Eleven City Diner. I had an open-faced Reuben and fries and cream soda. Very tasty.

Judi and I played pool in the afternoon. This time we were even on wins. She won solids/stripes and one of our 9-ball games. I won the other two 9-ball games. Alas, that’s the only kind of pool I’ll be enjoying this trip. Although the temperatures have been ideal, they haven’t been swimming-pool comfortable.

On our way home from the diner earlier, we’d picked up fixings for grilling steaks and making more ice cream. So for supper, we had grilled rib eye, baked taters, and the rest of the pineapple from Tuesday night (when Elsa grilled us burgers w/ grilled pineapple & onions and mozzarella). Then at 5 till 8, we headed up to the penthouse.

The place wasn’t at all crowded and we quickly found great seats on the balcony with a view to the Lake where the fireworks would be shot. Then we remembered the radio, so I went down to get it. Unfortunately, it didn’t pick up the station like it did down in her condo. Bummer, no synchronized music for us! Still, the fireworks were brilliant.

hergrace called us back (we’d left a Happy Birthday greeting on her answering machine earlier in the day) and we all got to chat with her while watching the Boom Boom Boom. It was almost like having her there as well (though she couldn’t see them). Glad you had a nice birthday, Steph!

This morning we got Elsa all packed up for her trip back. Then she drove us to Chinatown for Dim Sum at Three Happiness. Yummy as ever. We popped into Freida’s bakery for some (more) sesame buns and then hugged Elsa before she headed off. Judi and I took the El back.

Now we’re fiddling with YouTube and posting videos of fireworks. Behind the cut I have (I hope) the video that I just posted as well as a few photos. I’m impressed with what my phone can do!



Fireworks coming from the barge
Fireworks coming from the barge

The barge where the fireworks were launched was visible to us up on the penthouse balcony. That was pretty nifty to see.
Oooooh! Colorful!
Oooooh! Colorful!

I was pleased my phone was able to pick up the colors of the fireworks in this shot.
Booooom!
Booooom!

This was a big boom I managed to capture. Ooooh! Ahhhh!


Taste of Chicago 2009

Today we got to the Taste of Chicago! Yum! But before we did that, judiang and I went to her workplace in order for her to turn in cases she flexed on and pick up some new cases to flex. We got to the office block at quarter till 8am, so I wasn’t let allowed in her offices. So I popped into the Starbucks in her building and had a caramel steamer and read a book on my mobile. It was kind of fun sitting and looking out at the city view. So of course I took a picture.

Starbucks View
Starbucks View

The view from Starbucks when I had a caramel steamer this morning.

She came down to get me once visitors were allowed in. I read some more and enjoyed looking out her window. (I also fixed a certificate which had fallen from her wall. Yes, I’m anal.) Her office is on the 9th floor and you can see over the El (elevated train). I, of course, took a photo.

De Trains! De Trains!
De Trains! De Trains!

View of the El from Judi’s office at her workplace.



When Judi was done with her work, it was after 10am so we decided to walk to Taste of Chicago. elsaf e-mailed her requests, so once we’d grazed for a bit, we picked up her requests. Here are things that I tried:

  • Potato Pancake w/ apple sauce from Manny’s Cafeteria & Deli – alas, reheated rather than fresh.
  • Irish Egg Roll from Abbey Pub – my favorite 2009 Taste item so far. Basically a Reuben in a filo dough that’s been fried.
  • Grilled Anjou Pear Salad from The Grill on the Alley – tasty, but a little too tart.
  • Jambalaya from Blue Bayou – alas, they were already sold out of the Bananas Foster Bites.
  • Potato Pierogi and Cheese Pierogi from Polka Sausage and Deli – very yummy and the cheese one was sweet rather than savory.
  • Mustard-fried Catfish and Peach Cobbler – had a bite of these two items from Judi’s purchases.
  • Baklava from Costa’s – wanted to end on a sweet note, so I did.

We started at 11am on the dot and were leaving the Taste at 12:05. 🙂

Photos from Chicago (so far)

Wound up sending these photos from my phone via e-mail (a first for me). A little editing with GIMP and then time to post.



Elsa knits
Elsa knits

Elsa is knitting one of my socks. Very neat-o sock at that!
Patty Cake
Patty Cake

Judi’s new little girl, Patty Cake.
Zola Jones Designs
Zola Jones Designs

The storefront of Jason’s store, Zola Jones Designs.
Judi & Jason
Judi & Jason

Judi and Jason in Zola Jones.
Cereal
Cereal

The bar in Glenn’s Diner has a HUGE selection of cereal.
Elsa & Judi
Elsa & Judi

Elsa and Judi in Glenn’s Diner.
American Gothic on Tour
American Gothic on Tour

Has anyone seen the painting American Gothic lately? I think something’s missing from it. (Seen from the bus on the way down Michigan Ave.)


Jersey Boys are Boss!

As we had, indeed, planned, we wound up going to Ma & I for supper. We all ordered sushi as an appetizer (me getting California roll – yum!). judiang and I both ordered tofu pad thai and elsaf ordered shrimp lad nar. Very yummy. Then we cabbed it to Bank of America Theater to watch Jersey Boys.

I’ve heard music by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons but didn’t always know it was them. But I recognized more than half of the songs in the musical and enjoyed it all. A very fun musical with lots of good music. I did miss some of the dialog in the show (but heard more than Judi, who figures she understood 3% of the dialog). While watching it, I kept wanting to get on Wikipedia to read more about Frankie Valli et al. (Joe Pesci? Really! Wow!) I am SUCH a geek. But I feel a little vindicated cuz Judi admitted the same. 🙂

After the show, we took a cab back to where we’re picked one up before the show. Cuz we had some ice cream to be eating! Good ol’ Marble Slab is open late, so we got ice cream for the walk back to Judi’s apartment. I had chocolate swiss and pistachio. Yum!

Now I’m watching Olympics and we’re all geeking. I have a couple of photos from our bike trip today, which I shall post under the LJ cut.

Elsa & Judi biking
Elsa & Judi biking

We paused along Lake Michigan to turn around and head back. We’re on rental bikes.
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan

A shot of the Lake from our bike trip. Perfect day for biking.


Riding by the Lake

Today has been Exercise Day here in Chicago. Earlier, we rode bikes along Lake Michigan and just a bit ago we went swimming in the pool. And we’ve only had brunch for food today – it’s almost like a health spa or something! Anyhoo, I’ll get into more detail (or you can read elsaf‘s journal entry instead) about my trip thus far.

Yesterday, judiang and I slept in. Elsa arrived around 11 and then we were able to go off for food. We decided to have dim sum for brunch. So it was off to our favorite dim sum place in Chinatown – Three Happiness. Since we weren’t having dim sum on the weekend, they didn’t have the carts moving around serving stuff. We had a piece of paper with lots of photos of foodstuff and got to pick which things we ate. It was kind of cool actually knowing what we were choosing for once. And we chose well – lots of yummy stuff!

After brunch, we headed over to Trek Bikes on Michigan Ave (not far from Judi’s apartment) so that Judi could purchase a Trek bike. They didn’t have Navigator 3.0’s in stock (the bike Judi rode when we biked last weekend), so she tried the other comfort bike that they stocked. Even with a couple of different adjustments and also sampling the unisex bike, Judi decided that she really just ought to special order the Navigator 3.0. I bought her a bell in celebration (which she’ll have put on when the bike arrives later this week). On our way back to the flat, we stopped for ice cream at Marble Slab. I got a double chocolate malt – tasty tasty!

Back at the apartment, we snoozed. Actually, Elsa and Judi snoozed while I played World of Warcraft. I wasn’t going to actually play, just check on auctions, but with Judi sleeping, I thought “well, I’ll just go do this…” and then “she’s still asleep, I suppose I could start this…” and then I finally had to pull myself away.

Once we were all awake and not gaming, we headed off to Navy Pier to Bubba Gump’s for supper. The goal was to get the dippin’ shrimp – only they don’t have that right now. Bummer. So I got the Shrimper’s Heaven meal, which had coconut shrimp, breaded shrimp, peel & eat shrimp, and shrimp tempura as well as french fries and slaw. Tasty tasty! I also ordered the chocolate chip cookie sundae for dessert. Yum! Elsa and Judi enjoyed their meals as well. (I think Elsa goes into more detail.)

We returned to the place around the middle of the Parade of Nations for the Olympic opening. Alas, we missed the really cool stuff, but we did get to watch the parade (which I always love to see) and the lighting of the torch (very cool – but Barcelona will always win with the archer). While we were watching the recorded opening ceremony, I was also watching a live badminton match between Ireland and Germany on my laptop. I’m really excited by all of the coverage that NBC is going to do for this Olympics.

This morning, Judi was up at a reasonable hour – surprise surprise! She had a grill scheduled for delivery between 8 am and noon, so figured she should be up. So at 9:30, we walked over to the Bongo Room for breakfast. As with my last Bongo Room trip, I opted for the BLT eggs Benedict. Very yummy! I also had a hot chocolate. Judi made a major faux pas by buying a double espresso from Starbucks before coming into the Bongo Room. Tsk! Her excuse is that Bongo doesn’t have soy milk. Yeah, yeah, whatever. 😉

When we returned, they still hadn’t delivered her grill. So we vegged and geeked while we waited for the grill delivery. And when they did deliver, Judi and I headed downstairs to meet the delivery dude, only to have him tell us they’d already sent it up to the apartment. Returning to the apartment, no grill. But the phone rang and it turns out they were on their way up. They dropped it off in her kitchen and then we were FREE!

We headed off to Millennium Park to rent bikes for a bike ride around the Lake. We decided on a 2 hour rental, which made them $20 a piece before taxes. Nice. We got Trek Navigator 2.0’s for the ride and rode towards Navy Pier (and then past it). It was a very pleasant ride. Although it had been cloudy and threatening rain, when it was time to rent the bikes, the sun came out and it was very sunny and pleasant. I don’t think we could have asked for nicer weather for our bike ride.

After we’d been out for about half an hour, it was nearing the halfway point of our rental period. So we turned around and headed back, not knowing how long it would be to return (there was more uphill, we thought). Turns out, it took less time to return to the park than we figured. But we opted on finishing anyway – especially since we’d all attempted going up one of the steep hills by biking. (I did it, but it wasn’t easy! Even Judi made it 3/4ths of the way up – you go gurl!)

There was one more steep hill to try, which I also successfully did – but once again, it was hard the last 3 feet or so. Go me! Right after we turned in our bikes, Judi and I booked a place in tomorrow’s 2pm Segway tour of Chicago’s lakeside. That should be fun! And shortly after, it started to rain. It sure was nice that the weather cooperated for our bike ride. Now we just wanted it to cooperate for our planned swimming venture.

We geeked for a short while before putting on our swim suits, and when we got to the pool, it was lovely outside again. There was sun and there were clouds, but it was warm enough to be in the pool. We stayed in for about an hour (long enough for us all to get wrinkly fingers). Now we’re all here updating our blogs. (I’m the last to finish.) The plan is to get supper at Ma & I, the Thai place near Judi’s place. Then we go off to see Jersey Boys at the Bank of America Theater (what Judi says was once called the Schubert Theater). Should be a fun evening!

Still paused & refreshed…

Poor judiang is stuck in a plane on the tarmac in Dayton waiting for a big ass storm over Chicago to subside. She’s been on the plane now for over 2 hours and is eating bags of pretzels to keep up her strength. Poor thing! I’m on call, ready to zip off to the airport and pick her up if the flight is canceled.

The contractor’s end of things on my bathroom is done – yay! I’ve just been in cleaning things up. Tomorrow I am going to take a BATH in my new tub! Woohoo! Mom wants to take a photo – provided I have lots of bubbles. Um, yeah-no, as my friend Carolyn would say. Heh. I’ll get photos up later once I get the in progress ones that dad took while I was hanging with Judi and elsaf at the Lake.

So, last time I reported on our Lake adventures, I said I’d talk about Saturday. Saturday was our Adventure Day. In order to take advantage of the cooler morning weather, we got up around 8am. Elsa made pancakes and sausage for us and I made coffee for Judi. We then took both cars over to the Lake Loramie State Park so we could ride around. We had a fun time riding around the park – even Judi, who says it’s been 15 years since she last rode, rode like a pro (when she got her confidence back). It was a very pleasant morning ride and I think I need to get a rack for my car (I’d stuffed my car in the trunk with the back seats down) so I can take my bike there in the future.

We left my car in the parking lot and Elsa drove us to Pleasant Hill (my town) in order to see if Meddlin’s Peddlin’ Bike Shop had a better bike rack than the one she was using. (Her highway drive down with two bikes was rather disconcerting since the rack started listing to one side. She stopped several times on the way down readjusting them.) Jack Thomas is the owner of the bike shop – he’s a retired biology teacher and former mayor of P Hill. He was his usual helpful self and first tried to see if he could get her current rack more stable. He’d not seen one like it and really wasn’t able to help it out. But he had a 3-bike rack in stock that turned out to be VERY stable for the bikes. And since it holds 3 bikes, in future Elsa could take her two bikes and mine to wherever we’re going to be riding. Yay!

We stopped at my house then so Elsa could see the bathroom in progress. Rych and his son were still working on things (they finished yesterday around 3:30, dad says). It was looking GREAT! I checked on the kitties who, as usual, were hiding under the bed. I apologized for not being there, but they didn’t seem to care. Heh.

When we returned north, we went to the Haus der Eleganz for lunch. I had the chicken salad sandwich (on croissant) and onion rings. The sammich was lovely, but the onion rings were a little soggy – like they’d been microwaved or something. Oh, and I had a vanilla Italian ice. Yummy! The girls seemed to enjoy their lunches as well.

Before we returned to the cottage, we went to Wagners for some groceries for Elsa’s evening masterpiece. Elsa pulled up to the cottage and Judi said “I’ll go put the ice cream in the freezer while you two get Trina’s car.” Elsa and I just looked at each other like “Oh yeah! The car!” Neither one of us had remembered it was still at the park’s parking lot. *snerk*

Judi cleaned the kitchen while we were getting my car, so shortly after our second return, Elsa started on her evening meal. Mmmm. If you’ve never had one of Elsa’s meals, you’re missing out. (Hmmm, I think only my sister and hergrace have experienced this in my flist.) I had, as usual, invited mom & dad around to enjoy it as well.

I spent some time reading (and occasionally dropping off) while Elsa slaved away in the kitchen. Judi eventually suggested going to Wagner’s again so she could get AAA batteries for her mouse and Elsa suggested some green onions for her bourbon creamed corn. So we did that. Mom & dad arrived around 6 – about when I was starting the fire for grilling the meat and peaches.

So what had Elsa prepared for us? Bourbon creamed corn, as I mentioned. Twice baked potatoes (the best we’d ever had, agreed my folks). Grilled peaches. Peach brazed donkey dongs. (OK, so that’s not what they were, but they sure looked like donkey dongs!!! I should know, I laid ’em onto the grill to cook ’em! And I wish I’d taken a photo so you could see that I’m telling the truth.) They were peach brazed pork tenderloin and were very tasty! I’ve become quite the grill master with Elsa as my guide.

For dessert, Elsa had also baked us blueberry pie. Oh my, was it simply brilliant. We all enjoyed the supper and we love that Elsa loves to cook. 🙂

After the folks left, we tied Judi down and made her watch The Mikado. The only version I have on video is the Jonathan Miller one, which I enjoy (cuz I love Eric Idle) but which isn’t a very traditional version. What Judi really needs to see is a very lavish live version. It turns out there were two songs she recognized: “Titwillow” and “Three Little Maids from School.”

Sunday was a lazy day. Once again, Elsa made us breakfast – pancakes and sausage. But then she had to drive back home. *sniff* Judi and I pretty much spent the rest of the day sleeping and/or reading. I finished one book and made quite a bit of progress in another. The weather was perfect – I spent most of my time reading in the chaise lounge outside. The only time I had to get in my car was to take us to Wagners (heh) so we could get marinated chicken boobies to go with our leftovers for supper. (We’d grilled hot dogs and had leftover creamed corn for lunch). I picked out the rosemary garlic chicken and Judi picked out a Bordeaux marinated chicken. I grilled those and we heated up leftovers. Oh, but before supper we’d had the last of the blueberry pie with ice cream.

I had an 8am meeting this morning, so I decided I’d go home Sunday night. I made Judi a mudslide and me a sodie (cream soda float) out of the last of the ice cream. Then I drove home around 10:30pm. Judi and I played a little WoW together and then I slipped off to bed.

I woke up at 7:30am this morning, got ready, and rode my bike to the school for the meeting. It was our design team meeting for the new school building. We’re working on color schemes, type of wood, carpet colors, locker colors, etc. And the plans for the school look really cool. Neat to see the layout of my classroom/lab in context with the rest of the building. The meeting ran long, so I left before we finished in order to get back to my guest.

I returned to the Lake around 11am and proceeded to fix a late breakfast of – you guessed it – pancakes and sausage. I used the last of the Aunt Jemima mix and the start of the Hungry Jack mix (which we picked up last night with our chicken boobies). So we had Hungry Jemima (or Aunt Jack) pancakes. And loads of sausage since Judi told me to grill it all.

Then we slept. I actually did a bit of laptop work first (reading dad’s labs from his Advanced Problems in Science class which I’m restarting this year), but wound up on the sofa sleeping. But when I got up, it was time to start shutting the cottage up. Judi cleaned the dishes, I vacuumed and gathered up trash and laundry. We got on the road a bit later than I’d intended (too late to get ice cream before hand). We stopped at my house so Judi could see the bathroom now. (And also to dump off the trash.) Then I dropped her sorry little butt off at the airport. Where she’s still, I’m imagining, waiting on the tarmac in the plane. I hope they get on their way ASAP!

The pause that refreshes…

I’m sitting in the three-season room of mom & dad’s cottage at the Lake. Alas, elsaf‘s already left for the weekend, but judiang‘s still here and getting ready for the day. (I think the day will entail the two of us being here at the Lake and doing squat. Sounds good to me!)

The weekend began on Thursday when Judi flew in from Chicago. I picked her up and drove us to Piqua (a bit norther than necessary to get to my house) for a late lunch. We went to El Sombrero. Tasty tasty! Then we popped into Home Depot so that I could return the bathtub drain which (despite the recommendation from the Home Depot bathroom lady) was the wrong size, plus a pair of bullnose corners which I didn’t need after all. Then we zipped over to the tile section and looked for 5 more matte bullnose tile for my shower area. (The contractor thought it would look better going from the floor to the ceiling, so I was half a foot off on both sides in what I had picked up.) They had 7, so I picked out the cleanest 5 and we headed to my house.

Judi got to see the progress in the bathroom. Thursday was pretty much plumber day, so it didn’t look a whole lot different at the end of the day as it looked at the beginning, but I did have a working tub (sans fixtures) AND shower (for the first time since the house was built). Yay! I sent Judi next door to mom & dad’s house to nap since there weren’t construction people banging on things. (Oh how Lucy & Linus would have loved for me to do the same for them! Poor kitties!)

While they were working and Judi was napping, I played a little World of Warcraft and then stuffed my bike in my car (since we were going bike riding at the Lake when Elsa arrived). When the contractors were done, I returned to the folks’ to pick up Judi and then ordered pizza for supper. I had a coupon for free delivery – yay!

As the folks headed over to my place, Judi and I walked over to the gas station to pick up some chips and some pop. However, when I got there, I realized I hadn’t brought my ATM card, I’d brought my credit card. Whoops! We walked back to find mom & dad watching HGTV on my big ass TV, I apologized, and then Judi and I walked back, this time with my card.

Once we had chips and pop and were back at my house, I received a call from Aunt Becky saying work suddenly had gotten busy and she’d be a little late. And not to wait for her to eat. (Dad called out “We won’t!” It is his sister after all. Heh.) The pizza arrived soon after the call, so we ate and watched HGTV and then Suzie Orman. I’d decided to order the new steak ‘n’ shroom pizza – Angus steak, mushrooms, onions, special sauce, cheese – and a deluxe. And for dessert, a peach dessert pizza. The pizzas were all nice and tasty.

When Becky arrived, I put Penn & Teller: Bullshit on and the girls and I got to playing Pinochle. We learned an important lesson – don’t let Judi bid during the first round. We started out 590 points in the hole thanks to her. Despite this setback and a few other dumb plays by both of us, we managed to beat Becky and Mom in the end.

After the game, Judi and I headed off to the Lake. We arrived after 11pm and immediately put the A/C on. Then we vegged in the three-season room which was cooler than the cottage. By the time we headed for bed, it was cool enough in the cottage.

We slept late and didn’t get off until nearly lunchtime, but rather than go to the grocery on empty stomaches, we stopped into the lunch/breakfast cafe Haus der Eleganz that’s across the street from Wagner’s. I ordered a vanilla steamer and a chocolate muffin. Judi had a double-shot hazelnut soy latte and a carrot muffin. It was tasty and Judi was absolutely delighted with the shop inside the cafe. (What, they don’t have those in Chicago?) She even took photos! Heh! We decided that we must have lunch there on Saturday with Elsa.

We picked up stuff at the grocery and returned home. After a bit, I made a fire and we roasted hot dogs. Tasty tasty! We vegged while waiting on Elsa’s arrival. And when she arrived, we hugged and she joined in the vegging.

For supper, I grilled corn on the cob and a marinated patio steak (as I’d done a couple weekends before for mom and dad) as well as pineapple. We sat out at the picnic table and had a very pleasant supper. We vegged at the fire for awhile until it was time for Meerkat Manor, which Elsa and Judi watch. We then watched some more Bullshit and eventually got off to bed.

I’m going to start the fire for lunch, so will post about yesterday later on.

Bathroom Progress

There is progress!

I has a tub! (It’s not hooked up, but I has!)

I has tile floor! (I shouldn’t walk on it yet, but I has!)

I no has toilet (yet). Tomorrow, hopefully!

I have uploaded a boatload of photos on the job thus far on my gallery. If you’re curious, go have a peek. I’ll keep adding to it as the job continues.

Last night, I stopped drinking fluids around 6:30pm. I went next door to mom & dad’s around 10 to take a bath & pee. Then I returned home to geek on the PC (and finish updating my new iPod*) and eventually go to bed.

At 4:30am I woke up and I had to pee. Bugger. So I got dressed, went outside to my loving neighbors (who left the back door unlocked for me), snuck into the house, went to the bathroom, and returned home. Only to then not be able to fall asleep again. After a bit, I finished reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (I really liked that book!). Then around 6:30am I got up. Blech.

Tomorrow, judiang flies in! I’m not taking her straight to the Lake however. Since the contractor’s running a day behind, I might stay over until Friday. I’ll see how things go tomorrow. But no matter, I have entertainment for the Gods of Rrrrrrrragnarrrrok Judi. Mom & dad and Aunt Becky are joining us tomorrow evening for some Penn & Teller’s Bullshit watching, munching of Indians Pizza, and playing cards. (Only one of those options will not include my dad. I’ll let y’all guess which one.)

elsaf arrives Friday and we’ll definitely be at the Lake by then. Apart from some point in time where I’ll grill corn on the cob (Friday night, probably) and another point in time (Saturday evening, definitely) Elsa will grill Yet Another Glorious Meal, we don’t have any firm plans. We’re hoping to get some bike riding in. I think it’ll be fun to ride around the park a bit. 🙂 Judi assures us she’ll remember how to ride a bike. She’d better! 🙂

*My old 60GB 4G iPod finally snuffed it the other day. I tried everything they suggested on the Apple site to no avail. So, knowing I needs my music for working in the house, working in the lab, etc, I ordered another one. I got a refurb 80GB iPod Classic. It arrived yesterday morning. For grins, I have purchased Blink for it. And, for equality in Scottish Doctors, I converted That Circus Episode of Doctor Who into iPod compatible video and stuck it on there too. And I’ve got all my MP3s and many Sylv photos on it. Yay iPod!

*sniff* My Chicago Trip is nearly at an end…

Before I get too far into my post, a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY to drake57!

So, yesterday (well, I haven’t been to bed yet, so I’m still thinking today is Sunday) after our nap and a bit of geeking we headed off toward Navy Pier. We popped into a couple of bookstores (Borders and a used bookstore) so that I could look for more Lois McMaster Bujold books – no go on the ones I’m looking for.

We arrived at the movie theater right when the 5:00 showing of Wall*E was beginning, but we wanted a bit of a rest from the walking we’d been doing. (No, we didn’t walk all the way from judiang‘s place – just from the Borders.) So we had drinks and some spinach & artichoke dip at the lounge were the bowling alley is. (This bowling alley’s in the same building as the theater – and the lanes are on the second floor. Seems such an odd place to put a bowling alley.) Dad called while we were lounging, so I talked a bit with him and mom. (They’re in Minnesota visiting Amy & Rachel. Like me, they go home tomorrow – Monday.)

A few minutes before the movie, we finally made our way to the theater to discover lots of people were going to see it too. We wound up in the center of the very front row. And it was actually a great place to watch the movie. We both loved it and the cartoon before it. And we saw several trailers that we enjoyed. Though I think I’ll be giving Beverly Hills Chihuahua and The Pink Panther 2 a miss.

After the movie, we continued our walk to Navy Pier. We first put our names in at Bubba Gump’s, but it was an hour waiting. So we walked on down the pier and decided to try the barbecue place, Joe’s Be-bop Cafe. They had a 5 minute wait, so Judi left to cancel our name at Bubba’s and we were seated at Be-Bop’s. We decided to take our time eating in order to sit most of the night before the fireworks, then get up to watch ’em. We timed it perfectly (with some thanks to the waiter who took forever to get our desserts to us).

So, for starters we got popcorn shrimp (since we missed out on the bucket o’ shrimp thingy from Bubba’s). Tasty, tasty! Then Judi got the rib tips and I got the half yardbird (bbq chicken). Although their barbecue sauce was better than Robinson’s (which I sampled at Taste), it still wasn’t to my liking. Still, the rub & sauce on the bird (what little there was) was excellent. I liked their jalapeño corn bread, their spicy baked beans, and the baked tater too. I also had an amaretto sour there. Judi and I both agreed that it was better than the one I’d had at the bowling alley lounge. Dessert was “sumpin’ chocolate” which was basically chocolate overload cake with chocolate ice cream and hot fudge. Wow. I wasn’t able to finish the thang.

We paid for the meal and then Judi led the way to a good spot for fireworks watching. Although it was only a 10 minute show, it was really cool to watch. They even had smiley face fireworks! I hadn’t seen those in years! (First time I ever saw them was at St Paul, MN during Taste of Minnesota.) We all ooohed & ahhhhed as we watched.

My phone tries to take a video of the fireworks… Not bad, phone!

After a return to Be-bops where I looked for a souvenir for Taylor (my cousin who’s looking in on my kitties while I’m away), we headed off for the 29 bus to take us back to Judi’s place. We managed to get on the third bus and even got to sit for the entire journey. Then we watched the series finale of Doctor Who. Judi’s already posted her WTF. I rather enjoyed it myself. (Hmmm, reminds me of last year’s finale.)

We both slept in today and were ready by 10:30 to head for Chinatown. Yes, it was our traditional jaunt for a dim sum brunch. We went to new Three Happiness (as always) and had a nice assortment of dim sum. We even had leftovers (see, we needed that third person, elsaf!) We also went to a store in Chinatown so that I could get Taylor’s souvenir. (I didn’t care for the Be-bop choices the night before.)

After we returned home, it was swim time! I took my final swim in Judi’s pool, and as always, it was refreshing. And I had finally talked Judi into taking me to the Field Museum (though I had resolved to go on my own if she didn’t really want to come – it’s across the street fer gosh sakes!) I printed off $5 off coupons so we’d save some money going to the Mythical Creatures Exhibit. But it turns out I didn’t need it cuz the lady at the front desk let me in free (paying only $8 for the exhibit) since I’m a school teacher. Judi got a discount as a Chicago native, but she had to pay $15. Heh.

Since there were only 2 more hours before they closed, we went right to the Mythical Creatures Exhibit. capriuni, we both thought of how much you’d enjoy that exhibit. 🙂 It was cool – some neat art, cool statues, a Chinese dragon as used in New Years parades, etc. No photos allowed, alas. Then we went to the George Washington Carver exhibit where we were both inspired by Carver and all that he did. I learned a lot from the exhibit – he was green long before it was the buzzword of the decade.

Leaving the Carver exhibit put us right in with the prehistoric beasties. Yay! I was able to take photos there of various skeletons. I’ve always been fascinated by mammoths and saber tooths and other such critters (why else would I waste my money on 10,000 BC?) We finished off the visit with some overhead shots of Sue, the T-Rex which I remember from when I was a kid and visiting the museum. (She’s shrunk since then, I swear!)



After we left the museum, we walked over to the ugly Torso & Legs Sculpture at the tip of Grant Park near Judi’s apartment. I took photos. (I’m really pleased with my phone’s performance as a camera this trip. Not too shabby at all!) The sculpture(s) is called Agora. There are 106 cast iron figures. And they’re ugly and creepy and rusting all over the concrete.


I made Judi come with me for ice cream at Marble Slab (me thinks she doth not protest enough) and we both got cones. I had white birthday cake ice cream and double chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. Yummy! We returned so that Judi could walk the pooch and we could veg a bit. Then we headed off to Gioco (a nearby Italian restaurant) for supper.

For starters, we had fried calamari. Yum! Then I had the pear and pancetta salad plus a side of polenta. Mmmm, best polenta ever – it was seasoned with mascarpone cheese and butter. It looked like a big pile of scrambled eggs, but tasted far better. Thanks to all of the bread and olive oil I’d already scarfed, I could only eat half. Judi happily ate the other half. Heh. Oh, and I had an amaretto sour there as well.

We waddled back and popped up to the penthouse to look over Judi’s fair city. Such a lovely view. Then we returned to make strawberry shortcake and watch the Confidential for the last ep of Doctor Who. We then watched Housewife, 49 while we ate our shortcake. It was a nice little movie. (I knew I’d like it – it had Stephanie Cole in it, after all.) I’ve pretty much been writing this post ever since. And I should head for bed. Tomorrow, *sniff* I leave. This trip has not gone completely as we’d originally envisioned, but I do think that Judi and Elsa and I had many pleasant times during it. Here’s to the next time when we three shall meet again. 🙂