Third Week in October 2011

Monday after work I stopped by the grocery store, then came home and made dinner. Later in the evening myself, Merinda, and Frank went over to Village Inn for a little pie and relaxation. It ended up being a laugh fest.

Merinda played the claw machine, and won a hat.


Attempt number one to get a pie for Troy.

Tuesday I came home after work and slept. I eventually got out of bed so I could go to sleep on time. Wednesday after work I went to RCIA, then to the store, then home and right to bed. I feel like I'm getting enough sleep lately, but I would like more please.

Thursday evening I went to Theology on Tap, the third week in the series. This night the lecture was about Bible study. The speaker was Sharon Doran from Seeking Truth Catholic Bible Study. She is a very enthusiastic speaker with a great personal witness.

Friday I went to the dance, then to The Donut Stop afterwards.

Saturday was the big road trip to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. The trip was for Merinda to visit the Halloween Haunt, but some of us wanted to get an early start, so Maggie, Beth, Joe, and I headed off earlier. Our first stop was the Chick-Fil-A in Saint Joseph, MO.

That's the good stuff. Photo credit: Joe

We drove the rest of the way down to Worlds of Fun only making one wrong turn, which of course, was my fault. We parked, and then got on the rides as quickly as we could.

Joe shows what any bro does when surrounded by pretty women, check to see what other pretty women are e-mailing or texting him.

We rode about every roller coaster we could before dark. Troy, Merinda, and Ben arrived, but they got in line to a different attraction, and that is just how the trip went, we kept being in line when they were free, and vise versa. I found out that Joe is absolutely fearless, we went in the haunted houses and Joe got in front and just walked, nothing jumping out scared him at all.

Look I found Beth's disembodied head ... well except it wasn't.


They watch for you in the night ... bwahahahaha!

We finally wore ourselves out with all the roller coastering, and headed home. We got lost again, which again, was my fault. The ride home was fine except for the creepy fog and the creepier angle Maggie's head was when she fell asleep in the back seat. You can see all my pictures from this adventure here.

I didn't end up sleeping quite as long as I thought I would, and I was up and ready to go ... so I went to church. Immediately afterwards I headed over to DJ's to watch the Bears beat Tampa Bay. Good win, I wonder how many weeks in a row the 'smart' NFL analysts will continue to pick against them. Near the end of the game I started to really feel bad. I think in retrospect I dehydrated myself from the Worlds of Fun trip, and just didn't do a good job trying to rehydrate. It took a while to feel better.

Next up, the Bears bye week.

Second Week in October 2011

Monday didn't start so good. I woke up with a migraine, and went right back to sleep. I ended up working just a half day. After work I met the usual group at DJ's Dugout to watch the Bears play the Lions on Monday Night Football. So Monday didn't end so good either.

I know it's pretty popular to be on the Lions bandwagon, but the Bears pretty much held them in check except for two big plays, I wasn't impressed with them, and I sure wasn't impressed with the Bears either, the stat line sure makes it look like we could have won that game. Stop me if you've heard this one before, we just didn't look smart, giving up two big plays and penalties. I'm just shaking my head as I type this.

Tuesday I went to work, and after work I went for a walk with VK down at Ak-Sar-Ben village. I had dinner with VK, her roommate Amber, and one of Amber's coworkers at Crave at Midtown Crossing. It was a very nice place with good ambiance. My meal was competent, VK's was really good. Dessert was very good.

Does anyone besides me think perhaps nice restaurants should have a regular menu and a foodie menu. I think nice restaurants sometimes try to unnecessarily challenge people with something different. The best restaurant meal I have ever had was in a hole in the wall place in Chicago, it was a very simple chicken and tomotoes dish over rice that was just perfect. Every professional chef I have ever met wants the people they cook for to have a good experience. Obviously each diner has their own opinion on what a good experience is, but it starts with food that is adequately prepared. Unfortunately, the issue with my food was that I thought the pasta was undercooked ... I also thought the VK's veggies were overcooked.

I took Wednesday off of work. I did some chores, and made a new friend...

On Wednesday night I went to RCIA. I was not confirmed in the Catholic Church, and I feel that it is something I should do. This will be one of my regular weekly items through the end of May.

Thursday after work I went to Theology on Tap. I saw some people I haven't seen in a while. The free food disappeared at an alarming rate. Fortunately, I was first in line. I felt bad for the speaker, Father Carl, who didn't get in line fast enough. I was going to offer to buy him a meal, but someone beat me to it.

Friday was Merinda's birthday! So at lunch I went and picked her up some gifts. After work I took a nap, overslept, and was running late for the dance (I was meeting some people there who had not gone before). I'm not very good with being late, and I'm not really good with being hungry either ... and I was both. I snapped at poor Cecily, who just wanted to help, then made Marilou go and get me something to eat. The rest of the dance was really fun. After the dance, about ten of us went out to Village Inn, I just giggled the whole time ... yep, I said giggled.

Saturday I hung out with VK and we ate dinner and went for a walk. Sunday morning I got up and went to church way out west with Beth. Immediately after church, I went directly - er, well, I got sorta lost due to construction - to the annual trip to Vala's Pumpkin Patch.

Bente got picked for a cheerleader for the pig races.
Her pig stopped running and ate some vegetation.


I think they had the pressure up too high, everyone complained about sore legs...


...or sore backsides.


Jenny backed right into me.


I forget who thought up this shot, but it was a good idea.


The corn maze (shouldn't it be called a maize maze?) had an outer space theme.


I'm still not sure how Mark avoided this shot.

You can see all of my pictures from Vala's here. I'm sure you can find pictures of the event on Facebook.

Later in evening I met the usual group at DJ's Dugout for the another Bears game. This one had a much better result than the one on Monday. Go Bears!

First Week in October 2011

Monday and Tuesday were both boring days because I didn't do much because of my neck still hurting from whatever I did to it on Saturday. Wednesday it got a little better. Thursday, however, it had begun to loosen up and I went to work and by the end of the day, I felt fine.

After work I went up to the first session of the fall Theology on Tap Series. The speaker was Teresa from the Pro Sanctity Movement. She spoke about modern saints. It was my second time seeing her, she is a sweet woman, what a great example of living a life in service to others.

On the way home, I dropped off some of Anne's favorite chips, Frito Kettle Cooked Spicy Cayenne Cheddar at her house. I can find them all the time at Hy-Vee, but I know that she has a tougher time locating them.

Friday I took the day off, mostly because it was my on call incentive half day anyway. In the morning I ran a bunch of errands. In the afternoon, I ran ... literally, almost two miles. I realize that I am in the middle of an exercise lull, I'm just not motivated. While I am trying to keep some of it routine, it's been very difficult. I hope to be able to get my motivation back, and at the very least be able to meet my goal of 365 miles of walking this year. I'm right around a mile a day, so I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

I had dinner with Kevin at the Hy-Vee buffet. He talked about all of the changes in his life ... as usual, he was a good listen with non-typical observations. We headed up to the usual Friday dance. After the dance was over, I went to Village Inn and sat and talked to Matt and Vivian until almost 0200. That's a pretty good evening, dinner and conversation, dancing, and dinner and conversation.

Saturday I went with VK to her brother's wedding. It was very nice wedding, the ceremony was at Saint Paul's Methodist Church in Papillion. The reception was downtown at the Embassy Suites, like I said very nice. All of VK's family was there, including her grandparents from Norway.

Congratulations Mindy and Isaac!


No, I didn't pick my own shirt or tie, that's why I look so nice.


Somewhere in Norway, people are laughing about this picture.


Part of the reason that I'm including this is because I got Bente to pose for it, captured it, and processed it almost exactly like what I envisioned in my mind ...
the other part is that it's a good picture.

At least two people have 'borrowed' my pictures for their Facebook profiles ... stealing is a compliment, right? Anyways, I took a mess of pictures, you can find them here. VK actually posted pictures to Flickr, who knew, you can find her pictures of the wedding here ... including one of an obvious case of cloning. Just one quick rant, I don't understand how the DJ, in a family atmosphere (there were kids running everywhere), could choose a set list with half the songs having swear words in it. I'm not naming the company, but it's not the first time that I've seen it happen from them.

I left the wedding about 2230, then went over to Kaleb's for the rest of his game night. I played zero board games, but enjoyed some Rock Band and more 'Around the World' Ping Pong. It's amazing how sore that game can leave you feeling the next day.

Sunday I slept in, then met Maggie for a photo shoot downtown for the Miss Heartland Swing Calendar. The photos turned out well, but it turns out they don't want any portrait pictures, the suggestions are a little different than what we did, and so probably none of them will be usable for the calendar.

I thought it was fun, but it was probably about 40 pictures too long for Maggie (I took 206). She started to lose a little patience with the wind and her hair. I tried to get her out of the wind and talked to her in Merry's voice about the ring of power to get her to laugh. You can find the rest of the pictures I took uploaded here ... it's a work in progress.

Later in the day I went to church, then came home and actually watched TV ... football, so not like a show or anything. I think it was a good week.

Fourth Week in September 2011

It had to end some time, eleven days off of work, and finally I'm back to the grindstone. Part way through the work day, a coworker asked me to swap on call next week for this one ... sure. That could not have worked out better for me. So now I'm on call, so an already slow week is looking slower by the hour.

Tuesday after work VK brought some dinner over to my house, thank you. We ate downstairs in the basement because Troy had fallen asleep upstairs on the chair. Wednesday I finally got all my pictures from Cowtown uploaded, and had over 4000 hits over the next 24 hours. Thursday and Friday were slow both from a work perspective and a personal time perspective. You think I could have caught up on my blog, but no.

Saturday was Frank's housewarming party, and it was all day. I got there right around 1130, and didn't leave until 2345. I did leave in the middle of the party to go grocery shopping, then to church, then shopping again with Sarah.

Even if you had been there,
you still wouldn't have known what was happening. Photo credit: Lisa


I don't know if an explanation could help this one either. Photo credit: Lisa


What's a three letter word meaning "Takes all the fun out of
a can of whipped cream"? ... 'MOM' Photo credit: Lisa

Lisa took all the pictures. I am still not sure how this works with Facebook, but it is possible that you can see them here. The only downside to the entire day was somehow pulling a neck muscle while watching TV ... I knew that idiot box was dangerous.

Sunday I was up and at DJs Dugout for the Bears and Panthers. We won to go 2-2, but we sure haven't looked good yet, also, leave it to the Bears to make a potentially easy win look exciting. Later in the afternoon, I went for a walk. That was it for a very slow on call week.

Third Week in September 2011

Ugh, sore from Cowtown, and I'm going to be sitting for eight straight hours. It's Monday and I'm planning on hitting the road to Chicago by 1000. 1000 is a good time to start because it makes me miss all the traffic, unless the roads around Rockford and Cherry Valley are packed, which is rarely the case. My actual out time was around 1040, which is reasonable, since I didn't set an alarm. Unlike my fall trip home last year, there were only two relatively short construction zones that I went through on I80, making the trip relatively pleasant. I did do something that I said I would never do: I answered a phone call from work while I was on vacation, what else was I going to do in eastern Iowa?

I arrived at mom's, got settled in, and we went out to eat at Main Street Station for dollar tacos. The restaurant itself is the old railroad passenger station in McHenry, so it has a railroad flavor to the decor and drinks. Monday Night Football was on, but I mostly just enjoyed talking to mom. When we finally went home, I got her internet connection up and running. She called it a 4G, but what it really was is a Verizon MiFi. It wasn't tough to understand, but I get why people make technology so difficult.

Daisy is finally used to me!

Tuesday 'morning' I was up and mom and I headed out for breakfast at IHOP. I then went with mom running errands, and as always, Aldi's was one of the places we went. When we got back home, I went for a short walk around mom's neighborhood and then took a nap. When I got up, mom had made pork chops and potatoes, I love her potatoes. We then sat down and watched NCIS and NCIS / Los Angeles ... yep I said that I watched TV. I did a lot of TV viewing on this visit.

My last few visits home have really underscored my feeling that the 'vibe' in McHenry is slightly uncomfortable. It's not like I expect to hear a banjo playing at any moment, but there is an underlying tone to the town, like a feeling of sadness or tragedy that is implied, but never spoken about. Like the sun shining, but giving no warmth. Okay, I'm done with my waxing poeticallyish.

Wednesday after an unhurried morning, I had lunch with Michele at a place that both my mother and Michele recommended (the name is escaping me currently). It was a very pleasant visit with Michele. I like how my friends are unafraid to say just about anything to me, so I got some advice.

I contemplated my advice with a long walk on a path next to the railroad tracks that go from McHenry towards Richmond (I'm not sure they get all the way there though). Yes, I had my camera!

The entire walk was a little over 4.5 miles up and back. It went past McCullom Lake and about a half mile from Ringwood. I turned around after I passed a farm. If you'd like to see all my pictures from the walk, and there are lots of flowers, you can click here to see them. I came home and napped before going out later to eat at Applebee's with mom.

Thursday I took the train downtown to meet Jen for lunch, and surprise a lecture on Hypochondria. After I filled my brain with all sorts of interesting knowledge, we went over to eat at Heaven on Seven and I killed all those brain cells with a couple of New Orleans style drinks. We then walked back to her office, she went back to work, and I walked down the lakefront and back over to the train station. It was a short trip downtown, but that's okay, I got to see Jen.

I got home, had dinner with Mom, then headed over to my home away from home neighborhood bar, The Gambler, and met with Suzy, Tony, and Maureen. Yay for old friends! I haven't seen Tony in twenty-five plus years. He told some old stories that were hilarious ... and that I don't remember. I really enjoyed listening rather than doing most of the talking.

Friday morning I was off to meet my cousin Amy for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, about an hour drive to get there.

It certainly appears that we are related.


My mother worked at Penney's at Woodfield when I was a kid. My brothers and I spent many hours playing on that yellow-orange statuey thing waiting for her to get off work.
It's still there, and it's still ugly.

The conversation was nothing short of wow. Although much of it was not private, I am going to leave it off of her for now. I really appreciated it and her and the too short amount of time we had to visit. We only argued about one thing, whether or not the hostess hair was real or not. I said no, she said yes. Since I was on vacation, I had no where to be, but unfortunately, Amy had to go too soon.

I wandered around the mall, which hasn't changed much in 30 years. Priced a few Bears jerseys, um, no. Then went over to Ikea to do some shopping, oddly enough, I bought myself a birthday present, and looked around the place for all sorts of things. I did not overspend, thankfully. I went back to mom's house, and basically relaxed all evening (while she went out).

Saturday morning I was up early for breakfast with mom. I packed up the car, said my goodbyes, and left town. Just like last year, I managed to time my trip through Iowa City to match the ending of an Iowa football game. The traffic was heavy, but not stop and go, and an Iowa win ensured that it was friendly driving. It was like that all the way to Des Moines.

I was going no further than Des Moines, because I was attending a swing dance workshop weekend that both Rae and Larry, and Eve and Michael were teaching at. I found where the workshop was going to be, then headed over to Rae and Larry's house to unpack and get ready for the dance.

I'm not sure I can do this move.


The dance floor at the venue was incredibly fast.


The band was 4th Street Swing, Larry, Travis, and Jill play in it.


It turns out no one in the band wanted to sing Route 66
... I WILL, I WILL ...
I'm not exactly afraid of the microphone.

You can see all the pictures from the Swing Sensational Weekend here. After the dance we went to dinner at TGIFriday's, a Des Moines dancers tradition. I guess Travis really wanted to know more about everyone there, so he asked for everyone's most humiliating story. Well now, I guess after I shared mine, we're all good friends now. I got back to Rae and Larry's and fell asleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, Larry discovered a circuit breaker had tripped, the one that included the spare bedroom I was in. He reset the switch, which turned on the overhead light in the room I was in, so I woke up all sleepyheaded wondering why Larry was turning on and off the light. We all had a good laugh about it in the morning.

Sunday I took three classes during the day. Had a nice talk with Eve about (my) dancing (she was my first partner in the Cowtown Jack and Jill). Then I packed it in and decided it was time to head home. The drive from Des Moines to Omaha was uneventful, except for listening to the Bears get beat by Green Bay ... yuck. When I got home I did a bunch of laundry, so my vacation ended well.