Tag: Vacation

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school – whee!

My end of summer was really packed full of action & adventure, which is why I’ve not updated my journal in that time. I finished up my visit with Amy (more details later, I hope!) and the day after I returned, flew in for a week spent at mom & dad’s cottage at the Lake. And as we were at the lake (soon joined by ) we didn’t have any internet connection. Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses!

Still, I decided I wanted to have something interesting in this post, so I’ve uploaded a short video that I filmed at Open Streets MPLS while visiting Amy. We rode bikes to Lake St and then got on Minnehaha which was blocked off to street traffic for about 20 blocks. While perusing the various things going on, we saw a group of tap dancers from Keane Sense of Rhythm demonstrating their craft and giving mini lessons to folks interested. I filmed them for a bit and have edited the video a little for your enjoyment as well. The song playing while they tapped was “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train.

Oh, and I just want to brag here – I was able to finish reading 30 books during the summer! I’ll update my summer stats at another later post (probably).

Minneapolis Visit 2013

I love getting the chance to visit my sister in Minneapolis and so I’ve flown from Ohio to Atlanta and then up to MSP in order to do so once again! (The nice thing is that, though I flew AirTran, since I bought the tickets from Southwest, I got to use their rules and so my checked bag was free!)

I got up early yesterday morning (4:30 – blech!) and mom took me to the airport. Both the Ohio leg and Atlanta leg of the trip were uneventful. Amy picked me up at baggage claim and we returned to her place. Sadly, she was unable to get the day off work (though Monday and Tuesday she has off – whee!) but was able to work from home. So while she worked, I looked through the BiteSquad offerings to see what we could have delivered for lunch. We settled on Manny’s Tortas and Amy got a Cuban torta and I got Manny’s Special. The website didn’t say what was all on the sandwich, but we were willing to risk it. Turns out it had steak, ham, mushrooms, and their usual toppings (avocado, jalapeno and chipotle peppers, cheese, grilled onions, etc.) I’d not had a torta before and Amy described it to me as a Mexican “Great Steak and Fry” which described it well enough. Oh, and you get a bag of Lays potato chips with the torta order.

The BiteSquad website is nifty cuz it contiually refreshes the page to tell you where it is in the order. It was a Friday and the peak of the lunch time, so it was about an hour from when we made the order to when the BiteSquad dude dropped off the order. We sat outside on Amy’s patio and enjoyed our tortas and chips.

Amy was done with work by 4pm (she’d started early to get on the network before it got too busy at work) and so we figured out what our evening plans were from then. We both felt that a walk would be good and we might as well walk somewhere for supper. We used another website called WalkScore to find out what restaurants were nearby and how far the walk is. After much discussion and debate, we settled on Quang’s (a Viet Namese place) (with the option that if something along the way changed our minds, we’d go there instead). Turns out Quang’s was our eventual destination.

We started the meal with a steamed bun, which was HUGE and very yummy (and not on the menu, though it used to be). Then we both opted for the beef and egg roll vermicelli salad (bun thit nuong cha gio) for supper. This was a brilliant idea – a very yummy and refreshing salad (though with only a hint of greens. Heh). We both wound up with leftovers which we decided would make for a great breakfast. We also bought a (huge) chocolate chip cookie thinking we’d have it later in the evening.

Before heading home, we wandered back up the street beyond Quang’s to Glam Doll Donuts to see what all they had on offer. It’s a really cute store with some fun places to sit and eat. I picked up a cream filled donut and Amy chose a plain glazed donut. These, we figured, would complement our leftovers. We also popped into a new (to Amy) store called b. but didn’t see anything we could live without.

Since Amy had worked all day, she was too tired to do much else and thought sitting and reading would be a lovely way to finish the evening. I agreed. So once we were home, we sat in her living room and geeked on our laptops and then read until bedtime. A lovely day spent with my sister. (Oh, and we didn’t eat any of the cookie that night.)

This morning, we did as promised and had our leftovers and donuts. We were both a little disappointed in the donuts as, despite being yeast donuts, they were too dense (more like cake donut density). Ah well, now we know better than to waste our WeightWatchers points on Glam Doll donuts. Still, breakfast was yummy and I supplimented mine with a peach.

Our main morning goal was to get some summer fruit for Amy to freeze for the winter months. We stopped at the Midtown Farmer’s market for blueberries (Minnesota grown) and she picked up 6 pints for $20. They have been lovely tasting blueberries, too. Then we went to her local co-op, Seward, and she bought a case of peaches (Michigan and Wisconsin grown). A quick stop at a liquor store allowed dad to buy us some rum and gin and beer and cider. Thanks dad! (I love it when he gives us “bad girl money” to spend on liquor and chocolate!) And then we returned home.

Since we hadn’t yet gotten any real exercise for the day, we decided to go for a walk to our lunch place. This again required some discussion and debate and our eventual choice was Butter. I had a BLT and their pesto pasta salad and both were yummy. We returned home and then headed off on a grand adventure.

Yesterday, Amy and I went across the street to a neighbor of hers who had two old IKEA chairs and a matching ottoman available for anyone to take. Our goal today was to find some fabric and foam rubber to replace the cushions on the chairs. Amy drove us to Crafty Planet for some fun fabric and then onto Jo-Ann’s for some foam rubber. Since the Jo-Ann’s was near a Best Buy, we popped in there for some Cat-5 cable as well. (Not for the chairs, but for another project.)

We have since returned home and our evening plans involve grilling out and having Amy’s friend Kyle around for dinner. Should be some good geeky fun (among other things, he’s a Doctor Who fan).

GIP and Summer Update

Dad sent me the photo he took at Erie which I loved in particular. It’s one of the five of us ladies enjoying the beach. I’m the one on the far left. Mum is beside me. I’m probably reading The Ripple Effect during this photo. I decided I wanted to make another Lake userpic, so this I have done.

Lazing at the Lake

I also figured I should continue my book, bike, and movie stats for the summer. I’m into the final weeks of my absolutely brilliant summer vacation. I’m very close to my personal goal of 25 books read and I expect to top that and then some before the kiddies return to our building on August 26th.

# of Bike Rides: 12 since the start of summer vacation. Just a short ride yesterday (under 4 miles) but a useful one where I had my seat adjusted a smidgen by the bike shop dude.
# of Books Read: 23 (with every intention of finishing #24 today – whee!)
# of Movies Watched: 24 (whoops – that took over my book total – and I should get another watched today)

The books continued:
Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce (which I borrowed from the library after watching the Rise of the Guardians movie)
Penny Arcade Vol 1: Attack of the Bacon Robots by Mike “Gabe” Krahulik and Jerry “Tycho” Holkins (eBook – part of a Humble Bundle eBook purchase)
Penny Arcade Vol 2: Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings! (eBook – ditto)
A Crack in the Lens by Steven Hockensmith (another Holmes on the Range mystery from Hockensmith – library book)
27 Nerd Disses by Phil Plait and Zach Weinersmith with art by Jess Fink (eBook, pick your price)
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Vol 1: Save Yourself Mammal by Zach Weiner(smith) (eBook from same Humble Bundle as before)
Doctor Who: Ripple Effect by Malorie Blackman (eBook novella in honor of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary, 7th Doctor & Ace)
The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes (which I heard about while listening to the extras on Doctor Who: Persuasion, a 7th Doctor/Elizabeth Klein adventure from Big Finish – same author for both. Library book)

The movies continued (library DVDs unless otherwise specified):
Iron Man 3 (2nd run theater)
Quartet
Despicable Me 2 (at the Icon theater in Chicago with and )
Pacific Rim (at the Icon with Judi)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which I realized I hadn’t seen when we saw a trailer for The Wolverine at the Icon)
X-Men: First Class (might as well complete the set).
The Croods (2nd run theater – saw same day as Epic)
Epic (see above)
RED (wanted to see it in case I go see the sequel now in theaters)
Les Miserables (first time ever seeing the musical)

Still doing well with movie and book picks this summer! (Though it is taking me quite a bit of time to get through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell… Need to renew it from the library.)

Erie Etc.

Last Wednesday, the parental units and I headed north to Oak Harbor and Port Clinton to spend some time with friends and hang out at Lake Erie. Our friends have a nice cottage right on the beach of the lake and we spent a wonderful afternoon there, enjoying the cool weather. Sadly, the zebra mussels (an invasive species) had been out in force and the waves deposited a hell of a lot of their shells on the beach making barefoot walking a bit of a chore. Apparently two days prior to our arrival, the beach was perfect for bare feet.

Apart from that, out time at Erie was practically perfect. After checking into our motel, the whole party of us (there were 9 in total) headed to Mon Ami, a nice restaurant in Port Clinton, for supper. 8 years ago, five of us in this group had all been to Italy together along with other friends (including ) and we were able to celebrate the 40th anniversary with one couple in our party. The couple celebrated their 48th anniversary with us at Mon Ami that night.

The food at Mon Ami was very good. I ordered their baked brie appetizer to share at the table (though I probably had the lion’s portion). It was soooooo good. Baked brie and baked apples and baked peaches covered in a cinnamon and pecan glaze. I think we all agreed it was a winner. I followed it up with lobster bisque and a salad (with dried apricots and dried cranberries). I couldn’t finish the bisque or the salad thanks to the brie but they were both excellent too.

The plan for Thursday was just to hang at the beach all day. Which we did. We had sandwiches for lunch and smoked pork chops for supper. Mom brought the pork chops and rub as well as finger salad (vegetables in an oil and vinegar soak). I brought bread, which I’d baked on Tuesday, and brownie bites, also baked Tuesday. Both were popular. And the pork chops when smoked were very yummy. That night we sat out on the beach by a camp fire.

Friday was another beach day, with the intent to get out on the water. Wednesday was too choppy and we just never got around to it on Thursday. So I and two others took one canoe out to the “secret beach” while the anniversary couple took their canoe out and went to the same location. Mom and two of the guys rode on a paddle boat. (Mom got to sit and rest while the guys peddled their hearts out.) Dad went fly fishing beside a sand bar.

Some time after 1pm, we all loaded up our cars and headed off to Oregon, OH for lunch. The Oregon Inn has the best fried perch in the area, according to one of the guys we hung out with. Since Oregon was sort of on the way home for most of us, it seemed best to stop there on the way home. All but one of our party ordered perch and I’ll admit, it was pretty tasty. Since both parental units imbibed for lunch, I drove us home. Go me!

I got us home safe und sound. And after we rested a little from the car ride, we went to downtown Troy’s Prouty Plaza for a free concert of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. This was possibly the biggest crowd they’d had this summer – maybe on par with the Cincinnati Pops. You can imagine that I spent much of Saturday resting up from our Erie trip followed by an evening concert!

Anyhoo, here are some photos from the Lake Erie trip, one shot from the concert, and a few pictures from my Brukner walk yesterday morning.

Lake Gulls
Lake Gulls
Gulls flying off of the beach at Lake Erie.

Friend's Cottage at Erie
Friend’s Cottage at Erie
My friend’s cottage at Lake Erie, right on the beach!

At the Bar!
At the Bar!
Standing out on a sand bar on Lake Erie. Or rip wrap bar. Or whatever one wants to call it. (This was near our motel, not near my friends’ place.)

Sunset over Erie
Sunset over Erie
The sunset on Lake Erie.

Fire on the Beach
Fire on the Beach
Thursday night at Lake Erie, enjoying a campfire on the beach.

Glenn Miller Orchestra
Glenn Miller Orchestra
The Glenn Miller Orchestra played at Prouty Plaza in downtown Troy. There was quite a crowd.

Skellington
Skellington
A deer who died at Brukner – photo taken in March.

Skellington 2
Skellington 2
The same deer in late summer – photo taken yesterday.

Wild Flowers 3

Wild Flowers 2

Wild flowers

Pix or it didn’t happen!

As promised, here are some photos that I took in Chicago and in Galena when , , and I got together the past week.

Cell Phone Wars
Elsa and Judi and I engage in a simple game of "Cell Phone Wars" – I think I won cuz I got 'em both in one shot! 😉

Elsa on the boat
Elsa awaits the boat ride to see the Navy Pier fireworks.

Judi on the boat
Judi also awaits the fireworks on the boat. I probably had the same expression that she did that night.

Night Pier Shot
Navy Pier at night.

American Gothic
Seeing this painting at the Art Institute of Chicago was even neater after seeing the 3D version at Troy's Sculptures on the Square exhibit.

Chicago at Dusk
From our second night time boat ride, the city of Chicago at dusk.

Chicago Haze
A shot from my morning bike ride. I'm probably 6 miles or so from Judi's place when I took this photo.

Me and the Mississippi
You can see my shadow (and that of the sign beside me) as I look over the Mississippi near Galena, IL. That's Iowa on the other side of the river.

Chestnut Mountain Resort
The front of the resort we stayed in near Galena, IL.

High Foot Bridge
We had to climb up to the top of the levy to get to this foot bridge to cross the Galena river and get to the town proper.

Lots of Stairs
I never did get a good enough shot to really get a feel for how high up the stairs go in Galena. I think Judi got a nice one though.

Galena from the Bridge
A shot of Galena from atop the foot bridge.

Grant Our Citizen(s)
From the size of this photo, you can't hardly see the caption on the statue, but it says "Grant Our Citizen." I had to get Judi to pose in front of it, of course.

Pooling Around and Tapas Talks

First off, whatever you’ve heard from is false – I am not drunk.

Second, I forgot to write about our two recent Pool adventures when I did my last massive update.

The night we spent at the Chestnut Mountain Resort, Judi, and I went to the indoor pool after 10pm. This is a REAL pool that actually went to 9 ft deep. There was also a hot tub/jacuzzi which was very hot and very bubbly. We started in the hot tub making Judi/Elsa/Trina soup and then hopped into the pool to cool off. A little girl and her grandma were there and they had a beach ball they weren’t using, so I asked if we could play with it and we had a ball, literally, tossing it back and forth in the pool. Elsa showed off her L33T swimming SKILZ and I showed Judi a few water aerobics things to try. It was a really fabulous pool time.

Then last night, we headed off to Judi’s complex pool (actually, the pool is very simple, not complex at all) which boasts a deep end that is 3’10”. However, this pool is atop an apartment building which overlooks the Metra line and is in view of the Field Museum. Since it is an outdoor pool, it was lovely laying back in the water and looking at the Chicago night sky. I even saw a few stars!

This evening we walked to Tapas Valencia which is a Spanish Tapas bar not too far from Judi’s place. (Well, Elsa determined it was 1 mile away. Still a hell of a lot closer than any Spanish restaurants are to where I live!) We had a fabulous evening of food and fellowship. Never am I more happy to be a Foodie then when I get to experience wonderful food in the company of my dear friends.

I started the night with a Tangy Mango Margarita (which made me drunk during another visit to the joint) and then we started our first course with grilled brochette of beef tenderloin, garlic potato salad, and duck confite (a favorite for Judi and me). They bring the stuff out as it’s made, so we’d eat a bit, chat a bit, then more food would come and we’d eat more.

Round two of our dinner was grilled shrimp with garlic lemon butter, stuffed mushroom caps, and crepe with goat cheese, spinach, pine nuts, and apples. Plus I decided to try their Passion Fruit Martini. This course was also a delight.

Round three, I decided I’d had enough booze (and I tried to convince Judi that I wasn’t drunk), but we got three more items. Chorizo and morcilla sausage, sauteed black mussels with bell peppers and tomatoes in a white wine rosemary sauce, and grilled squid with garlic olive oil. I’m not a big sausage fan, but I tried both sausages and they were pretty tasty. I didn’t have any mussels – just not a fan. It smelled heavenly, though. But the squid was yummy. (If you wondered who ordered which items, I always put them in Elsa, Judi, Trina order.)

Round four was dessert. With Elsa shooting for low carb, she opted to skip dessert, but Judi and I forged on. Judi had their flan of the day: white chocolate. And I had my favorite, their crema con chocolate, which is basically creme brulee with little chocolate bits inside. *sigh*

I love that I can enjoy such wonderful foods. And I’m glad that I’ve gotten lots of exercise this trip in order to counteract some (if not all) of these wonderful calories!

Lead (II) Sulfide, IL

One of the things that wanted to do on this trip was go on a road trip to Galena, which is on the other side of the state from Chicago. We decided that Sunday would be our day to head out there, but first, we’d finally get to the Taste of Chicago.

We left for the Taste around 10am and walked there. Turns out they were actually opening earlier than the originally proposed 11am. So once we got down to the other end we started buying our treats. As usual, I stuck to Taste portions and wound up spending 3 sheets of tickets for the day (giving 3 tickets to Elsa as well).

I started off with some mustard fried catfish from BJ’s Market & Bakery. Next was Ricobene’s Italian breaded eggplant which was in a small bun. This was very tasty. I then picked up an Irish egg roll from Abbey Pub & Restaurant, 1/2 a tamal from Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill, and churritos (which are mini churros which aren’t filled) from Churro Factory. I returned to BJ’s and went in with Judi for a peach cobbler. I finished my Taste excursion with a non-Taste portion of Bacio ice cream (chocolate hazelnut gelato) from Cafe Gelato. Although the Taste is a shadow of its formal self, there were still lots of yummy places to eat!

Once we had rested up from the return walk from Taste, we loaded into ‘s car and she drove us to Galena. I navigated with the aid of my phone and CoPilot Live app. I had “avoid toll roads” so we did wind up most of the trip on US20 West which took us through a few more small towns than Elsa wanted to drive through. (And too many highways than my dad would prefer to drive on. Heh.)

When we arrived around 6pm, we checked in to the Chestnut Mountain Resort (which was about 8 miles from Galena and off in the “mountain” roads). It reminded me a little of Hueston Woods, where my folks, sister, and I used to go when I was a kid. We ate at their upper scale restaurant, the Sunset Grill. I had a nice salad which had blackened shrimp, pine nuts, gorgonzola cheese, and mixed greens. It was very tasty. Judi and I decided to finish with their strawberry shortcake, which we discovered was their short of strawberries cake. It was still tasty and the ice cream we got on the side helped.

Judi and I then took a walk around the grounds and chatted with a lady working in the gift store. We had a lovely view of the Mississippi (and Iowa on the other side) from both the resort and from our room. I also discovered a path I decided I’d walk along the next morning.

The next morning, we all woke up a bit early mainly because none of us thought to shut the blackout curtains. Whoops. I took the walk I had intended to take, and then we went down to the Summit restaurant for breakfast. I had eggs over easy, bacon, hashbrowns, and toast. Yum!

After we checked out, my phone was once again our navigator to Galena. We parked across the river from the town proper and walked over a nice foot bridge to get to the town. We purchased tickets for a trolley tour and wandered the streets a little before the tour began. Turns out Galena (an old mining town known for its lead (II) sulfide – aka galena – mines) has five levels to it. Main street was on level one and our tour took us on all five levels. Which was just as well as the day became so hot, we never left level 1!

Apart from being known for galena, Galena was home to Ulysses S. Grant (whom we loved to joke was Judi’s great-great-great-great-great-great grandpappy) and we saw his childhood home and the home he was given after being president. We also so the huge stair steps that run through that town that he would climb daily (often twice a day as he’d eat lunch at home). “No wonder he drank” said our tour guide.

After the tour, we went to Chef Ivo’s for lunch. Judi had studied the tourism booklet we’d gotten at the resort and had decided the previous night that we’d eat at Chef Ivo’s. She ordered some pork shank as appetizer (my first time having shank and it was pretty tasty) and I got a half rack of St. Louis ribs with an apple glaze barbecue sauce. My sides were slaw, spiced apples, and the tiniest cornbread muffin you ever did see. But everything was tasty, even the fried catfish that Judi had ordered and let me taste.

We shopped along Main Street until the girls were pooped. Then I continued on down the street until I realized that Galena, IL (like Chester, VT) doesn’t allow my Pay As You Go service to work. If the girls couldn’t get ahold of me or me ahold of them, I figured I should curb my shopping spree and return.

We still had a hot walk back to the car to go, but we all made it safely. Elsa then drove us home, this time with my phone allowing toll roads in the mix. So the way back was shorter (and would have been even shorter still but for the traffic once we got to Chicago) than the way there.

It was time for supper, so we walked to the Nepalese place for supper, only to discover it’s not open on Mondays. We wound up going to Zapatista (a Mexican joint) instead. I had another salad, this time with goat cheese and carmelized pecans. Judi then suggest splitting a flan, which I agreed to. We had a vanilla flan, which I seemed to enjoy more than Judi did.

This morning was finally our bike ride day. Judi tried to ride hers but her knee was hurting. So rather than ride Elsa’s spare bike that she’d brought (which was older and less comforable), I rode Judi’s bike. We went south on the bike path for almost 4 miles and then returned. It was warm but with the moving bike, was still pretty comfortable.

We’d decided to try the Nepalese place (Nepal House) again and had their buffet for lunch. I had a little bit of nearly everything and enjoyed it all. And then I decided to be foolhardy and when the girls went back to get the car, I walked to the Icon theatre where we were going to see Despicable Me 2. I survived the heat and beat the girls there (since they had to walk back to the apartment complex to pick up the car).

At the start of the flick, we were the only 3 in the theater, but during the trailers, another party arrived. The movie was very entertaining and will be added to my BluRay collection when it comes out.

After a short hop to Target, when then returned home (and once again, I walked both places). Now we’re about to head to the pool.

Tonight, Spanish tapas! Tomorrow *sniff* Elsa heads home.

July Update

My summer has continued to be a good ‘un. Looks like after 20 years of working, I’ve finally figured summer vacation out. 🙂

We had Independence Day recently in the US and I got to see fireworks two nights in a row. On the 4th, I went around to mom & dad’s community for their community party. I brought brownies & mixed fruit (not a melon in sight!) I managed to not go too overboard during the carry-in and the next day weighed in the lowest yet at WeightWatchers. Whee!

Anyhoo, that night, one of the families in the community brought around some sky lanterns and we launched about 8 of ’em or so after it got dark. It was sprinkling a little that night, but we didn’t care. Mom brought out some glow-in-the-dark bubbles which I blew around to the delight of the 3-year old in the community. When the fireworks showed up around 10pm, our original placement (on the back patio of one family’s house) wasn’t ideal since the fireworks weren’t as high as they’ve been in the past. So we all meandered over to a better spot to watch them. Troy has improved their show – it actually lasted 25 minutes.

The next night, one of the folks just outside of town put on a fireworks show for anyone wanting to watch, so I wandered over to the other side of town to watch and was quite impressed. For store-bought fireworks, they were pretty decent. And the people who shoot them off take many safety precautions when doing it.

Continuing Summer Stats:

# of Bike Rides: Now up to 7 since the start of summer vacation. This includes a 19 mile ride that I did. Whew!
# of Books Read: 15 (and will finish another one tonight, I suspect).
# of Movies Watched: 14 (I think – I really should write these down as I see ’em rather than try to remember them later!)

The books continued (all of these were library books, either paper or eBooks):
Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo (another knock-out from Nesbo!)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (excellent handling of the story about HeLa.)
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (probably my favorite of her three books, though I’m not entirely sure why.)
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley
Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella (this is quite a contrast to The Redeemer, Dark Places, and Henrietta Lacks, I can tell you!)
The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd (I wasn’t sure I’d like this book at first, but it grew on me. Ending sucks, though.)
The Black Country by Alex Grecian (I really enjoyed The Yard so I was pleased his second book of the series is out now. Although his main characters are male, he writes very strong females in his Victoriana mysteries and I really appreciate that.)

The movies continued (all DVDs from the library):
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians (quite a fun flick – decided to check out the books, too)
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Frankenweenie (I preferred ParaNorman)
Anna Karenina (not even Jude Law could make me enjoy this flick – a shame)
ParaNorman (a great stop-motion puppet flick)
Life of Pi (beautifully filmed, true to the book)

Still doing pretty well on my book and movie choices (apart from Anna Karenina, that is). Hopefully will get some more theatrical releases into the mix soon!

Summer Stats

So far, summer vacation has been perfect. I’d feel guilty about things being perfect, but I’ve decided not to and just enjoy the perfection.

Here’s some statistics over my various “accomplishments” since summer vacation began.

# of Walks: Lost count already
# of Bike Rides: 3, with 2 other ones before vacation started.
# of Books Read: 7, with a few others started & several on order from the library
# of Movies Watched: 7, with a few others on order from the library and several marked to watch on my Roku with my Amazon Prime account

The books so far:
Wool (Omnibus) by Hugh Howey
vN by Madeline Ashby
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Orleans by Sherri L Smith
Dodger by Terry Pratchett (purchased)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (purchased)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The movies so far:
Now You See Me (theatrical, with and )
Star Trek: Into Darkness (theatrical, with Judi)
Wreck It Ralph (DVD from library)
The Adventures of TinTin (Amazon Prime on Roku)
Hugo (Amazon Prime on Roku)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (DVD from library, finished the book first)
Django Unchained (DVD from library)

So far, I’ve picked good books & movies to read & watch! Hope the trend continues!

Summer Vacation thus far

Although midsummer eve isn’t even here yet, I’m well in the thrall of summer. Mom and I have gone on a number of bike rides in the Troy area, the latest one was 12.8 miles. I spent time at the Lake with and . I went to the Troy Strawberry Festival, the Lost Creek Antique & Garden Show, and the Yellow Springs Street Fair. I’ve read several books. And I’ve vegged out on World of Warcrack. So it’s been a great start to the summer!

My last day of school was nearly two weeks ago. It was a teacher work day and I was allowed to zip off during the work day to pick up Judi from the airport. We stopped at The Brick House in West Milton for lunch and then I returned to the school. I gave Judi a tour of the new school building and then finished getting my room ready for summer. Of course, as soon as I was done, the heavens let loose with a frog strangler to strangle all frogs. During one of the points of less rain, I ran out (OK, walked quickly) to the car to pick Judi up. After a stop at home, we headed off to the Lake.

We’d been at the Lake for an hour or so when Judi needed to use the toilet, whereupon we discovered that there was water on the floor in the bathroom. Eep! I couldn’t see where the water was coming from (apparently, I’m blind because it was obvious the next day, according to Papa, that it was coming from the water softener) but I called the parental units and let them know. I cleaned up the mess as well as possible and it looked like we had the leak under control for now.

Elsa arrived later that evening, so after hugs and a bit of gossip, we headed to Brucken’s bar for supper. Having tried their “sex with the captain” cocktail before, I ordered it again. It’s basically a “sex on the beach” but with Captain Morgan’s spiced rum instead of vodka. I also got one of their Brucken burgers and ate Elsa’s fries. (She said I could!) Dessert was at the Dairy King around the corner.

The next day, I tried to start my “new summer regimen” of getting up early and talking a walk. (It’s been working sort of well so far. Some days are better than others!) The main plan for the day was for our Elsa dinner. She’s prepared some pork ribs before she drove down and I grilled them to her specifications. We also had grilled onions with a mustard sauce that she’d made, and her sour cream potato salad. The folks joined us for lunch (dad brought his World Famous Slaw) and we ate well.

While dad was there, he surveyed the leak, which seemed to be getting bigger, and saw its origins. He contacted the plumber who installed the softener and made arrangements for calling on Monday. Meanwhile, the girls and I would sleep in my house a couple of nights while the water was shut off at the Lake.

The original plan was for the three of us to go to my Aunt Becky’s for cards, but Elsa wasn’t have much luck with the task she was working on that evening, so she stayed behind while Judi and I went. So Judi got to meet Dona and Jill and see my Aunt’s new place. Sadly, Judy wasn’t there – I was hoping to introduce Judi to Judy. When we returned home, Elsa and Judi and I played the youth Trivial Pursuit that I’ve had since the ’80s and I wound up winning cuz I kept getting the easy questions. Heh. The next morning, we tried to have pancakes and sausage, but for a few issues: we’d forgotten to pack the sausage and Elsa’s grill. We improvised with mini scones and cereal and some OJ I bought at the local gas station. Then we were off to the Troy Strawberry Festival.

I’d taken Judi to the Strawberry festival before, but this was Elsa’s first time there. We parked at Meijer and took the shuttle (a school bus) to the festival. We found several things we wanted to purchase at the first few booths. I tried a very yummy strawberry sushi dish, had my usual strawberry lemon shake-up, had a strawberry empanada, and stood in line with Judi for ages for a pork chop sandwich. Elsa and I picked up the yard decorations we’d spotted at the start of the show and then returned to the shuttle.

After shopping a little at Meijer, we returned home to veg before we headed out later for dinner and a movie. IIRC, the dinner was Panera (yay for the strawberry poppyseed salad!) and the movie was Now You See Me. We all enjoyed the movie. Back at my house, Judi and I played Muppet Monopoly, which she eventually conceded to me. Go me!

Monday morning, we pack up the car again and headed to Bob Evans on our way back to the Lake. We got there late enough that we had brunch for breakfast. Heh. Dad was already at the Lake (as was the plumber) and when we arrived, he zipped off to lunch. We all just vegged at the Lake and eventually the bathroom was free for use of public (or whatever). For supper, I grilled a flank steak, which Elsa had prepared and later sliced. I also grilled some zucchini and baked a potato for Judi and I in the coals. Supper was very tasty. We then spent the evening by the fire.

Tuesday was Elsa’s last day with us. She made us blueberry pancakes and sausage (finally, success!). Then she packed up and headed back home. Judi was starting to get twitchy due to lack of Internet, so we went to the book store & coffee shop in New Breman for lunch. Then to Wagner’s grocery (which had better wifi than the coffee shop) for a few more odds and ends. That evening, we grilled hotdogs and had leftover potato salad and slaw.

Wednesday was a shopping day. We met the parental units at Kohl’s and both Judi and I found stuff (I got 5 pairs of shorts, all size 16, and a new swimsuit, size 18 – whee!) which we could then use my 30% off card. Then the folks drove us to Tipp City for lunch at Coldwater Cafe. I had their lobster and crabcake salad, which I love. I think Judi liked hers too. The folks returned us to the Kohl’s parking lot and Judi and I stopped in at the new cake shop, the Cakery, and bought a cupcake each. Mine was cookies and cream, Judi’s was key lime. Mine was good, I can say. We had leftover ribs for supper. And I think we got something ice creamy at The Dairy King.

Thursday was Winging It day. We had no real plans, other than a vague idea to go see Star Trek. We decided to have breakfast at Waffle House. On our way south to Sydney to the Waffle House, I had Judi check on her cell phone when Star Trek played at the Evil Puppy Mall. She also saw listings for the Greene, and I thought – well I’d never taken Judi there… There was an 11:10 IMAX showing according to her phone, so we headed on down after our WH breakfast and arrived at the theatre at 11:05. Which, apparently, was when the movie (not in IMAX mode) was showing. Tickets were only $4 each, so we went.

After the movie, which we both enjoyed (what can I say, I was expecting a popcorn movie and I got one!), we left the Greene (it was raining, so outdoor shopping was out) and headed for the Evil Puppy Mall. Sadly, Judi wasn’t allowed to hold any of the evil puppies (and thankfully they had no Pomeranians to tempt her). We then went to Red Slobster for lunch and then Best Buy. By then it had stopped raining, so we had time at the Lake to veg. But then we wanted just a bit of food to eat and decided to go to Dairy Queen. I had a burger and a blizzard (mint Oreo).

Friday morning we vegged some more and then eventually got the car loaded up. It was the day to return Judi to Chicago. We had lunch at the Friendly’s near the airport, then I dropped her off. I headed on to Troy where mom and I then took a bike ride. We finally got on the path north of Eldean road and it was lovely. It’ll be even nicer when they get that connected to the Piqua bike path. The folks and I then went to the Lost Creek Antique & Garden Show. We waited at the entrance for about 20 minutes waiting for them to open, then we made a bee-line for the flower vendor mom loves. She bought 4 plants which were all lovely (as every who later saw us carrying them said), and then we were able to look around the show. That night I got to sleep in my bed again with the kitties!

Saturday morning, I headed off to Troy again. This time the folks and I headed on to Yellow Springs for their Street Fair. We had lunch at Ha Ha Pizza (sadly, their calzones weren’t available due to the large crowds they always get at the Street Fair). I found a lovely wooden bowl at one of the vendors at the fair and it was still available when we were leaving, so I purchased it. Now I have a gorgeous bowl for my fruit.

Sunday was just going to be Clean Trina’s House and Do Tons of Laundry day, but that was changed slightly when mom called to say she had 2 tickets to see Dreamgirls and she’d buy my dinner if I joined her. What can I say? I’m a sucker for dinner and a Broadway show. We ate at The Spaghetti Warehouse (I had pesto on spaghetti with zucchini and grape tomatoes and a Mango Tango bellini) and then walked from there to the Schuster Center. The show was excellent – I’m glad we were able to see it.

Monday was Clean the Lake Day, which I did. I even had some time to see and relax while I was there. Tuesday, mom and I took our longest bike ride of the season so far (which was the aforementioned 12.8 mile ride). Today, I’ll be returning to the folks to spend a couple of nights. Tomorrow is water aerobics and WeightWatchers in the morning followed by Supper Club in the evening. And I’m sure we’ll do something fun on Saturday.

So this has been a great start to my vacation. Next week my two college courses start (one on stoichiometry demos, one on lab safety), so I hope to get those going well. Once I complete these, I’ll be at my Masters +15 and able to scoot up a little on the pay scale at work. Whee!