sinus problems

I missed work tonight with a horrid sinus headache. This happens sometimes when my allergies get out of control. I am about to take yet another dose of benadryl and then head to bed.

In the morning, Dan and I will be beginning an experiment of home schooling Steven for a week. He really does not want to go to high school next year, but he's not keen on retaking a bunch of middle school classes he has already passed with flying colors, either. I will start with the Iliad for his language, then add history and anthropology and art history and some Greek mythology as I  locate my books. This was a last minute decision tonight as I was trying to deal with my headache; this will not be a pretty week!

busy weekend

We have been having a very busy weekend. Steven's room is now perfect; Bill's room is ready for his new futon, as soon as he finds one he likes enough. We have sorted through every thing and book and item of clothing both kids own, and the back of my Jeep is filled with things to donate to charity. The rooms have been scrubbed down as well (and my allergies are driving me nuts to punish me for that). Everything should be ready for Bill to pack for college in a couple of weeks.

As a consequence of all of this work, all four of us are tired and grouchy. Dan and I were supposed to go to a party tonight down in Toledo, but I just wasn't up to it. That makes me sad, but if we had gone I would have not been good company because of being tired and the allergies, and I would have wanted to leave very early.

We have had nice dinners out on our deck the last two nights, featuring fresh produce. That is the one very nice highlight of the weekend - that and the chocolate chip cookies we baked tonight.

the museum of science and industry

For our last morning in Chicago we had doughnuts for breakfast.  We then loaded up the Jeep and headed to one of the two major museums we hadn't visited yet in all of our trips to that city - the Museum of Science and Industry. http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/exhome.html

Now, we have been to the Field Museum (natural science) and the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium many times - but the Museum of Science and Industry is miles away from the others, in an ill reputed area of the city. We had just never gotten down there.

What drew us there this time was an exhibit they had devoted to Leonardo da Vinci as an inventor. It just sounded very cool, and since it was Father's Day, we decided to go on the way home (the museum was on the way back to I-90 and the Skyway anyway).

http://www.msichicago.org/temp_exhibit/leonardo/index.html

We actually started out by visiting a special exhibit about frogs. That was pretty cool and we enjoyed it. They had plenty of colorful little poison dart frogs, and those little fellows are like living jewels due to their bright colors.

Right outside of the frog exhibit were some of the coolest model railroads I have ever seen. They started in a replica of downtown Seattle. You then followed the trains over the Rockies (where they picked up loads of raw materials) and the Great Plains (where they picked up loads of wheat) to Chicago, where the raw materials ended up in factories. In Chicago, they showed freight trains, Amtrack trains, Metra commuter trains, and CTA loop trains. It was just awesome, just totally cool!

Then we went into the da Vinci exhibit, and it blew our minds. The man was 500 years ahead of his time when it came to science and engineering. Some of the things he first thought of did not come to be put into regular use until the twentieth century. The best part were all of the models - some you could just look at, but many of them were things you could play with. They even had working catapults!

By the time we forced ourselves out of there the day was half over, and it was time to come home. We hit the road, vowing to come back to that very cool museum - we felt we had only barely scratched the surface of seeing all it had to offer.

 

another week another paycheck

The week is getting to be over, and those of us who work are all exhausted. I was going to let poor Dan sleep on the couch tonight (he was sound asleep and I did not have the heart to wake him up) but he woke up as I was turning off the lights and television (he fell asleep watching baseball highlights) and headed off to bed.  I am also pretty tired, but am still a bit too wound up from work to go to bed yet.

Tomorrow will be spent shopping for the book cases for Steven's room (he will get to do the heavy lifting for me) and I will probably make some sort of pasta for dinner (I am in the mood for pasta and garlic bread and a big plate of salad). Hopefully we can go shopping for a bed or futon for Bill's room, too!

Today Bill got the name and address of his college room mate. He is a kid from the suburbs of Kansas City. We'll give him a call this weekend, but we figure chances are pretty good that (since he will be coming to school from even farther away than Bill is, and they are both honors college kids) that he also in the school of architecture. That would be cool, because they would have most of the same classes and would be able to help each other study.

Today a wonderful friend of mine and Dan's turned 50! Happy Birthday Danlo! We love you!!!

a date in Chicago

About 11PM on our last night in Chicago, Dan and I went out on a date. We had learned that a wonderful jazz bar, Pops for Champagne, http://www.popsforchampagne.com/ was supposed to move from its long time Lakeview location to the River North in early May. We did not want to go up to Lakeview; we wanted to stay within a few blocks of the House of Blues so we could quickly get to the kids if they needed us. But since we thought that Pops for Champagne was only a few blocks away, we decided to head to the new location.

Now, the River North area is Chicago's primary night life area, with live music everywhere. So as we walked up to the new location for Pops for Champagne we saw at least one (and usually more than one) place with live music per block. A few examples (just ones whose names I can even remember, there were many many many more):

http://www.bluechicago.com/

http://www.kazbarchicago.com/

http://www.redfishamerica.com/

http://www.redheadpianobar.com/

http://www.howlatthemoon.com/

We got up to where Pops for Champagne had supposedly moved, only to find that they had not moved in yet. So we talked about which of the various places had the music that had sounded the best from the outside - and we decided to go back to the lobby bar of our hotel, where a great blues band had been playing!

But walking around River North at night - seeing all of the people, hearing music pouring out from all of those places - it was well worth the walk.

The Kaz Bar at the House of Blues is beautiful. They have stained glass windows, and comfortable couches to relax on. The drinks were pricey, but they did not charge a cover, and the band playing that night was very good. I had my first ever martini - Black Cherry flavor. Now that was something for a girl who usually only drinks a few glasses of wine a year.

 

 

finally quieting down

Work is finally quieting down a bit this week. It is steady, but not frantic. I did not have any stress diarrhea today, and that made it a good day.

Steven's furniture and his various stuff (books, drawing and art implements, trophies, etc.) are making it back into his room. Bill's room is still trashed, unfortunately. He has been working a lot of hours this week, so he hasn't really gotten a chance to work on it yet. Steven and I will be going to buy some of those book cases that fold out on hinges on Friday for his room. That will help a lot with his clutter; not sure what to do with Bill's yet.

Hard to believe that July is nearly over, and that Bill will be off at school in less than a month! He has finished reading the book that is required reading for all incoming freshmen; First They Killed my Father, about the Killing Fields in Cambodia.

My dear friend who moved out to Las Vegas will be back for the weekend. I am hoping to go to a party in his honor on Saturday night, accompanied by my sexy husband.

Blue Man Group; Irish pub

While waiting for a bunch of pictures to upload for an email I am sending out to family; I thought perhaps I would work a bit more on journaling our trip.

For our last full afternoon in Chicago, we treated ourselves to the Blue Man Group at the Briar Street Theater up in Lakeview.  We had seen them before a few years ago, and greatly enjoyed the performance, so decided to experience them again.

As it turns out, they did make some changes to their act, so a lot of it was fresh and fun, and the parts that were the same were a lot of fun, so we did not mind seeing those bits again. They combine comedy with great rhythms, and really make some good satiric points about art, its creation and culture. http://www.blueman.com

Lots and lots of fun!!

After the show, we walked around the Lakeview neighborhood for awhile. It is a part of the city we are not very familiar with, and it was pleasant walking about. I love how so many of the shops had bowls of water set out by their doors for dogs to get drinks, and some even had containers of dog biscuits for their owners to give their doggies a treat!

When we got worn out from the heat, and overwhelmed with the huge crowd of fellow Tigers fans walking southwards from Wrigley Field following that day's game, we found  a cab and rode back to River North.

We ate a great dinner at a restaurant we had never tried before, but all enjoyed a lot. It was an Irish pub/restaurant called the Kerryman. http://www.thekerrymanchicago.com/  the food was very good - Bill had fish and chips, Dan had shepherd's pie, and Steven and I both had delicious macaroni & cheese (made with Irish cheese, naturally). We were all very pleased.

When we got outside, there were threatening storm clouds engulfing the skyscrapers and it was starting to spit a bit of rain. We scuttled back to the House of Blues as quickly as we could.

We settled in for rest, and Dan and I patiently waited for a chance to slip out for a date; we did not want to go if it was storming, and wanted the kids to be relaxed, calm, and happy before we went out.

taking some time to play

Tonight work was quiet, which was a welcome change. I did not feel sick at all; I do not feel like I have been run over by a truck upon coming home. This is a very pleasant change from the way things have been lately!

Coming home I decided to take a bit of time to play. I have been working on my on-line photo albums, which always makes me happy. YAY!!!

did we ever work our butts off today!

Man, did we ever work our butts off today.

Since we got Steven's room completely cleared out yesterday (including the disaster area that was a closet), today we scrubbed it down; washed the walls, cleaned the floor, cleaned the ceiling, etc. We then broke apart the bunk beds and moved them in there. We went through his clothes to see what fits him (since he has grown so much in the past 18 months, a lot of the clothes in his room did not fit him anymore). While we still have a couple of loads of laundry to wash, we got a lot of the stuff that still fits him put away in his closet and room. We took out his little bookcase, as it is tall and narrow, thinking it would be perfect for Bill's dorm room. So he will need another book case or even two.

Bill's room is now the disaster area, which is sad, as it was fine before we tore the bunk beds apart. We had not been planning on moving the beds today so all of the books and stuff in the headboards are now all over the floor, as he did not have time to neatly pack it all in boxes. He is now sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a few days. We will probably go furniture shopping for his room next weekend, after getting his room cleaned top to bottom.

To add to all of the fun, Dan decided to rip apart the closet that he keeps his work clothes in. So the clothes are all clean and sorted out, and in neat piles in the living room while he re does that closet.

The concrete people dropped by at some point and dumped a bunch of boards in the front yard, but they still haven't really done any work yet. I have the feeling that this might become annoying if it goes on too long.

We did cook a wonderful dinner to reward ourselves for all of our hard work. The main dish was made from a Spanish recipe for garlic chicken in a white wine sauce. For the side dishes I made corn bread (which Steven loves) and four cheese mashed potatoes (Dan and Bill poured the sauce over the mashed potatoes and said it was most excellent that way). Oh, and green salad featuring some vegetables from our own garden. The wine was very tasty - Winter White from Leelanau Cellars.

I'm sort of dreading going back to work tomorrow. While we got a lot of stuff done in the house this weekend, which was great, I did not get much rest at all. I still have huge purply rings/patches/blotches under my eyes, and do not feel so great. Ah well. If I can make until next month, I will have a four day weekend to help Bill move to Muncie, and another four day weekend for Labor Day. Both of those should help, especially if I do not have to work a a lot of overtime in the meantime.

weekends are good!!

Rested as much as I could today, though Bill (mainly) and I did get quite a bit of housework done. Steven's room is now completely emptied out and awaiting steam cleaning. All of the funky smells are gone, and most of the nasty sweat socks are either pitched out or washed.

The cement people never showed up today, but the driveway area probably needed to be cleaned up a bit anyway. I have to go get more mosquito spray for the backyard tomorrow. We have to park back there, waiting for the cement people (and for about two weeks after they pour the cement) and the mosquitoes are getting fierce again, the little winged demons!

Steven did wake me up a lot earlier than I wanted to be awake, but he wanted to give me a hug before he went off to spend the night at his best friend's house. So that was fine. And with him gone overnight, we were able to go out and get some delicious Thai food (which Steven would not have been willing to eat). And yes - he does look bigger! It is incredible how quickly teenaged boys can grow!

the week is over and I am glad

Well, I suppose it was just a matter of time, given all of the stress diarrhea I have been having for months now, and given the fact that I commute to and from work on country roads with long stretches where there is no place to stop.It was only a matter of time, and the day was today. I am going to have to start keeping a change of clothes in my Jeep just in case. And as soon as Bill is off at college, and Steven is in school, it will be time to go in to the doctor (and be told that I am working on developing IBS or other stress related gastrointestinal disorder, something I am already well aware of). But in case they want to do butt scopings, I would just as soon the kids be in school and not know or worry.

Steven is home, though I will not see him until morning. He supposedly had a great time at camp, and tons of fun. While he did not beat any of the state champions, he did beat some kids who made it as far as high school regionals. And he was only pinned once, by the Ohio state high school champion. While Steven lost more matches than he won, the score for all of his other matches was within four points. So he is right there with some of the best kids in this part of the country. I was told he visibly grew again in the week he was away. No wonder I have not been able to keep enough food in the house this summer!

I am exhausted - when I got into work this afternoon everyone said I looked like I was in a bad way today. I felt pretty bad (what happened with the diarrhea before work did not help, either). I am hoping the cement people do not come until the afternoon tomorrow- I want to sleep for at least twelve hours, if the kids let me. In fact I think I will grab a healthy bite to eat and head to bed now. I had thought to finish up the entries about our trip, but  I am so tired I am sort of rambling today, and my fingers are all tangling up together.

a week is wrapping up

A week is wrapping up. We ripped Steven's room apart and gave it a good cleaning while he was gone, but I was unable to wash all of his laundry, as I lost so much time when the electricity was out. Nonetheless, his room no longer has that funky and unpleasant smell of old dirty sweat socks, and that is a most excellent thing.

We will be steam cleaning the carpet, and moving Bill's bunk beds into that room. Then we will rip apart Bill's room, and get a new double bed for it, so it can be a guest room the months he is away at school.(This is with his knowledge and participation, and he will be picking out the new bed and mattress).

This afternoon the inspectors will be leaving my workplace, which is great. A load of stress will be gone at work with their departure.

Steven will be coming home this afternoon from wrestling camp. Supposedly his weight group at camp was going to be rough. They had him go to the high school camp even though he is only 13. And he got the high school state champion from Ohio as well as another medalist, and a couple of kids who went to the high school state championships from Michigan, too. I am expecting him to be hungry and exhausted and grouchy for the next couple of days.

Today is the birthday of my former friend.  So happy birthday to him, and may he have the best birthday and best upcoming year of his life. And though he will never know it or see this, I can wish him happy birthday with complete sincerity.  

Dan called a little while ago. Bill and I had to quickly clean up the driveway and front of the house. A cement company is coming tomorrow to pave the driveway. We did not even know this was a possibility. Ah well. Hopefully having a cement driveway will make for easier snow/ice removal in the winter, and no one will slide backwards down the hill and get stuck in the bushes first thing in the morning next winter.

 

shopping in Chicago

By the time morning rolled around, we were hungry. We decided to walk across the river and explore a bit, and find some breakfast. We ate at a sidewalk cafe at the Hotel Monaco, called South Water Kitchen. http://www.monaco-chicago.com/moncmn_dining.html It was still very hot, but we were not in the direct sun, so it was OK.

Then we walked over to Michigan Avenue, and did a bit of light shopping. The kids bought World Cup t-shirts, and we bought a bunch of chocolate for a friend (who had given me a shopping list and money) at Ghiradelli's chocolates.

I like shopping in Chicago. You have the most of selection of New York, but it is not quite so overwhelming in its scale. And you can find some things you can afford to buy (like the World Cup shirts). Plus you have that great chocolate store.

This was the weekend folks from Motown took over the Windy City. Everywhere we went, on every street, in every restaurant, in every store - the place was awash in Old English D's and it was an ocean of blue and orange. We all yelled "Tigers! Tigers!" at each other. It was a hoot!

We then hurried back to the hotel, hoping my friend's chocolate would not melt from the heat, and relaxed in the air conditioning and watched some soccer.

Still to come: Blueman Group; a date in Chicago; and the Museum of Science and Industry.

da Cubbies!!!

After our three nights in the Wisconsin Dells, it was time for our second weekend in Chicago. While we did not know it, this was to be the weekend Detroiters took over the Windy City!

We got up early, did not bother with breakfast to save time, and drove straight to Chicago on I-90. The traffic was fine until we got to the airport, crazy after that.

We drove around Wrigleyville for awhile, and found a good free place to park on the street (it was available only during the day - at night you had to have a parking permit to park there). It was a short walk to the stadium, though we were all very hungry, and a bit mean as a result. I also had to use the bathroom, and it was very hot and humid. This was a high grouchiness potential moment.

Luckily, across from the stadium, I glanced up and recognized the name of a legendary sports bar whose name I saw in every book I have about touring Chicago. That's right - we were standing right outside the door of one of the greatest sports bars in America - the Cubby Bear Lounge! http://www.cubbybear.com/wrigleyville/index.html

We quickly asked if they were serving lunch and if children were welcome. The answer to both was yes, so we headed up to the area called the Upper Deck, where we grabbed the last open table, with a great view of the stadium across the street.

The menu was short and simple, but we found out that the food was well prepared, and the portions were huge. And, to my everlasting delight - they had their own brand of Cubby Bear Root Beer! It was delicious and ice cold, and I thought I was in heaven! And the waitress even brought free ice cream to me and the kids.

After eating our huge lunches, we headed over to the stadium. We had great seats - lower level, right behind home plate. We all loved Wrigley Field - old fashioned, charming - everything a baseball stadium should be. I loved the organ music - it reminded me of listening to Tigers games and Red Wings hockey games on the radio when I was a little girl. Everything just seemed so real. Couldn't find a greater contrast to glitzy, loud US Cellular Field. Here the baseball was enough. You didn't have to have kissing cams and dancing girls and constant loud videos of the team winning games.

The Tigers played very well, and we Michiganders cheered for them lustily. The Cubbies fans are more than a bit frustrated with their team this season, and booed lustily. But the Cubbies fans booed their team; they did not harass fans of the other team. The worst they did to us was to yell that the Lions still suck (which they do).

Anyway, I loved Wrigley Field, and we all had a great time at the game. We drank huge amounts of fluids because of the heat, as well as frozen lemonade. We had a great time.

After the game we found the Jeep and drove to our favorite Chicago Hotel, where we almost always stay, the House of Blues.  http://www.houseofblueshotel.com/ We checked in, then rested for awhile. The heat had made us all pretty tired.

In the evening, we walked to a huge nearby sporting goods store to see if they had any wrestling shoes in Steven's size (he had worn holes in the soles of his old ones). They did not, but the trip was not wasted, as we found a soccer jersey of Bill's favorite team (Real Madrid) on clearance sale. We also stopped off at a drugstore on the way back to the hotel, and bought lots of drinks and snacks for the room. Bill was about to drop from the heat, so we did not even go out for dinner that night (we were also still very full from that huge lunch). We stayed in and rested.

power is back! YAY!

We had some thunderstorms come through on Monday night. They had some pretty strong wind gusts come along with them. As I drove home, branches of various sizes littered the roads.

More storms came through over the course of the night. At some point while we were alseep, our electricity went out, and it stayed out for a long time (until late Tuesday night). It's bad when that happens, because we have a well, and our little generator, while perfect for running the refrigerator, is not strong enough to run the pump. So we cannot wash dishes or clothes, bathe or shower, brush our teeth, or flush the toilets.

On Tuesday we had no power, and half of day shift called in at work, and I did end up going in early. What a bad day.

Today was better. I had a shower so I felt human. Work was quiet for the first time in what seems like weeks. The Inspector General people have not come to my department yet. Since tomorrow is their last day, maybe they won't. The hives on my face (I got them while scrubbing shelves at work on Sunday night and was exposed to a bit too much dust) are healing. Life is so much better!

One of the nurses at my hospital is in the army reserves. He served for many years in the same reserves MASH unit as one of my pharmacists. He was abruptly called up for active duty overseas for the entire next year, and tonight was his last night at work. The pharmacist buddy was not working, so I called him at home to let him know the nurse is about to be on his way to Europe. Being able to get those two on the phone together made me feel a lot better about life, as well. Isn't it funny how doing small things to help other people out can make you feel so much better? I am glad the nurse will not be serving in the war zones (Iraq or Afghanistan) ~ rather, he is being sent to Kosovo.

Off to Camp

Steven went off to wrestling camp in Ohio today. Dan drove him down along with some other kids in my Jeep. I got to drive Bill's little truck to work. Dan ended up deciding to spend the night in Columbus, as many more kids than expected decided to go to camp, and one of the coaches cannot make it down there until Monday. That was OK with me; a couple of years ago I would have been upset and hurt if he had done something like that, but now that he regularly spends time with me, I honestly do not care how much time he gives his friends and hobbies, as long as he is happy and manages to give that little bit to me. I do not want (and have never wanted) all of his time, just a little bit of it on a regular basis.

He is so much better now than he used to be. I do not know if it was fear of losing me, or better management of his time ~ but he now finds or makes that time, and we are both a lot happier for it.

I am a much better wife now, too. Now that I have that bit of time, I am no longer always unhappy and lonely. And that makes me a better person to spend time with.

There is nothing so lonely as being alone is what is supposed to be a relationship. I am so glad things are better now.

a second date in the Dells

For our third and last evening in the Dells, the kids once again refused to leave the water parks, even for food. We left them a room charge in case they got hungry, and went out for a nice dinner.

There is a Mexican restaurant overlooking the water we had always wanted to experience, so we went there. http://www.mexicali-rose.com/

We found the food to be fairly average, but the view was great. We dined on the patio, overlooking the river, the dam, and the old hydro-electric plant. An eagle was soaring around, and how could you ask for something finer than that?

After eating a leisurely dinner, we went to play miniature golf. http://www.piratescovewisdells.com/  We had a lot of fun. We played two different 18 hole courses. We lost a bunch of balls in the water. We laughed our butts off, and it was great.

When we got back to the hotel, we forced the kids out of the water long enough for them to eat at the hotel restaurant. We all then went to play in the water parks until they closed for the night.

riding a duck!

http://www.wisconsinducktours.com/

One of the highlights of any stop at the Wisconsin Dells is riding a duck!

The ducks are old military vehicles from WW2; on the land they are a truck while on the water they are a boat!

We were lucky in that the Ducks send a vehicle right to the front door of our hotel every morning to pick up passengers; you can buy discounted tickets right there in the hotel at the concierge's desk. So on our second morning in the Dells, we bought tickets and caught the shuttle duck, which took us to the duck terminal.

The duck tour takes you on trails through the woods and down into the Lower Dells, the lower part of the sandstone canyon of the Wisconsin River. It then plunges into the river, and travels downstream so you can see some rock formations. It goes up shallow Denton creek, comes onto land, then goes to Lake Delton where is once again enters the water. It crosses a bit of the lake, then comes onto land for more trail riding, including traveling up a slot canyon only a few inches wider than the vehicle itself.

The duck rides are a blast! And another very fun thing to to on a hot summer morning, as a bit of water splashes in.

After our tour was done, the shuttle duck took us back to the front door of the hotel. We spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon playing in the hotel's water parks.

a romantic date in Wisconsin

Since the kids refused to leave the hotel's water parks on the second evening there - even to eat! - Dan and I decided to go out for an hour or two and find a romantic place to eat dinner. We went through a brochure of Wisconsin Dells restaurants, complete with coupons, and decided to try a place that sounded nice, a supper club on a lake in the middle of a nearby state park. http://www.ishnala.com/

It was only short drive from the hotel, right off of the side road our hotel was on.  And the drive, once we got into the state park, was lovely, going through meadows and forest.

The Ishnala Supper Club was a gorgeous place, a dream log cabin on a beautiful lake, with layers of decks and stairs going down to the water. The dining room had a wall of windows over looking the lake, and there were tree trunks coming up through the floor and going out through the ceiling. And the food (I had pasta; Dan had half of a roasted duck) was very good.

We ate a very leisurely dinner, enjoying the sun coming down and reflecting in the water, and watching fishermen on the lake.

When we were done we took the stairs down to the water and walked along the shore a bit, holding hands and just soaking in sheer beauty of the setting. There were thousands (if not tens of thousands) of tadpoles wriggling around in the water, which added to the charm.

 

Upper Dells boat trip

http://www.dellsboats.com/

For our first morning in the Dells, we bought tickets at the concierge desk to take a boat tour of the Upper Dells. The Dells are the sandstone canyons of the Wisconsin River. It is divided into the Upper and Lower Dells by a dam and hydro-power plant in the town of Wisconsin Dells.

So we drove up to the town, ate a hearty breakfast at a pancake house, and then found our boat.

The boat ride was lovely. It was on a two story tourist boat that made a two hour river cruise. It was a hot and sunny day, wonderful to be out on the water. We forgot our sunscreen, and I was wearing a skimpy top, so Dan "protected" my shoulders by putting his arms around me. Made me giggle, and was a great excuse for some public cuddling.

The boat made two fun stops.

The first one was at a magical place called Witch's Gulch. It was a tiny little side canyon coming into the main canyon, with a stream running through it. The canyon was so narrow a lot of the walk consisted of a boardwalk over the top of the rushing little stream. It was naturally air conditioned, and felt great in he summer heat, as well as being a treat for the eyes, as it was beautiful.

The second stop was to see some interesting rock formations, including one famous for being the sight of the first "action" photo. The guy who invented action photos had his son jump from one rock formation to another until he caught him in mid flight on film. No one believed that his photos were real, so he found that place as something that could not be faked - his son could not stop in mid flight, after all. Now they have a dog jump from one formation to the other (there is a big net to catch the dog if he doesn't complete the jump).

All four of us really enjoyed the boat ride. It was an absolutely wonderful way to spend a hot summer morning.

Wisconsin Dells & hotel there

After visiting the International Crane Foundation, we headed up US12 towards the Dells. We were surprised that our hotel was in Lake Delton rather than the Dells, very near where US12 and the freeway meet.

We stayed in the Great Wolf Lodge. We got the cheapest room they had, which overlooked a huge construction container in a parking lot. But that was OK - the hotel was great, and the room was cheaper than the ones in nearly all hotels in downtown Chicago.

The hotel had a north woods theme. It had three indoor water parks, and one outdoor one. They all flowed into each other - I think they were added on at various times. They had everything from toddler play areas to 700 gallon buckets of water to dump on your head, to a wave pool, to a pool for basketball, to a couple of huge hot tubs - well, you get the idea. Lots of huge multi story twisty slides. The hotel also had an amenities desk where you could purchase all sorts of tickets to area attractions at a nice discount. And there were restaurants, a gift store, a spa...the list could go on and on and on. In the pool areas there were tons of life guards, so if you had older children you didn't feel as if you had to keep an eagle eye on them for every second. They also gave you two water proof room charge cards when you checked in. That way if you did want to get away from your older children for a little while, you could give them a room charge so they could get a snack or a drink and charge it to the room while you take a nap or go out for a romantic dinner.

We loved it. We had a wonderful time. The kids nearly lived in the water parks, and Dan and I could have a bit of couple time as well as spend some of our time in the water parks.

We did quite a few things in our three days in the Dells, so I am going to break things up into a few entries.

the wonderful hotel: http://www.greatwolflodge.com/Locations/Dells/

http://themeparks.about.com/cs/waterparks/p/dellsgreatwolf.htm

rough week

Work was really bad this week. It was busy and stressful and I am in a full blown daily diarrhea place once again. I need to start looking for another job. I hate giving up the six plus weeks of vacation every year - but it's sort of twisted to keep a job that is making you sick only because of how much time you can take off from that job.

Steven really wants to repeat eighth grade. He was on the honor roll all year, and passed all his classes, but his birthday is in the late fall, so he is a year younger than most of his classmates. He found out that he is younger than all but two of the seventh graders on the wrestling team, and most of his friends are all in the seventh grade (which makes sense, because they are all his age). Dan and I agreed that he could stay back if he really wanted to.

But the school district does not want this at all. His grades were fine, and he is a star athlete in two sports. And he teachers all say he is mature for an eighth grader, even though he is a year or two younger than most of the other kids in that grade. So they are pretty much saying we either have to home school him (which defeats the purpose of him getting to be with his friends) or send him on to the high school.

This is also a cause for stress.

Bill is getting ready to go to school. I ordered some extra long sheets and bedding for him, as the dorm mattresses are longer than usual, and I might order a carpet for him. We need to order his laptop, but we will probably do that in Muncie when we move him into his dorm. I just made the reservations for Dan and I to stay in Muncie for two nights next month. One day will be for moving him into his dorm room and the second day will be for picking up his text books and ordering his laptop and odds & ends like that. Steven will be staying with a friend for a couple of days and Dan and I are looking forward to a couple of nights alone in a hotel room, and eating out by ourselves for at least a couple of meals.

We will be going back to Muncie to camp out at a state park on a lake for Labor Day weekend. That's when we can help Bill out additionally if he should happen to need anything else.

International Crane Foundation

After leaving Taliesin we began our drive up to the Wisconsin Dells. There were other things near Spring Green that sounded worthwhile, such as the American Players Theater http://www.americanplayers.org but they hadn't really gotten started with their season yet. So we decided to head up to the Dells.

When we got to Baraboo we decided to stop off at a place called the International Crane Foundation. http://www.savingcranes.org

We were so glad that we did! What a cool place!

It is an organization and place dedicated to saving some of the rarest large birds in the world. It is the only place where you can view all 15 species of cranes.

Some of the cranes were simply beautiful birds. It was highly enjoyable seeing them.

The highlight was being able to see a pair of whooping cranes - incredibly rare and endangered, together with their baby chick. They were in a marshland, and whenever one of the parents found a particularly yummy snack such as a frog, they ran as fast as they could to feed it to the baby.

At one time there were fewer than twenty of these beautiful birds left in the world. Through huge efforts there are now a few hundred of them.That baby chick is a precious treasure - a gift of hope to the world.

Taliesin

http://www.taliesinpreservation.org/

We left Madison after eating a quick breakfast at the hotel. We wanted to reach the Frank Lloyd Wright estate, Taliesin, in Spring Green in time for one of the 10AM tours. Most of the drive turned out to be on major country roads (US highways) but it was still slower than what it looked like it would be from the map. We missed the tour we had wanted to take by about five minutes.

We did get the next departing tour, however, which was good. It cost $50/person rather than $16/person for the tour we missed, which was a bit of a shock to the wallet for a family of four, but it did take two hours rather than one and you got to tour two of the buildings rather than one.

It left from the visitor center, which was itself a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright to be a restaurant. And part of it still does serve as a restaurant - as well as a book store and a space for exhibits.

The Taliesin estate itself served as a living workshop for Wright for some seventy years. He designed many buildings and structures there to serve many different purposes. There are many, many different tours that visit different parts of the estate and focus on different parts of his genius. He was a landscape architect as well as an architect, and also designed everything from curtains to dishes to furniture to dresses for the hostesses of "his" houses to wear so that they wouldn't clash with the house he designed.

The tour we took is called the Highlights Tour and took two hours. We got to visit the school he built for his aunts, and we got to visit his house (his main residence for most of his life it is called Taliesin, as is the estate itself). We also got to briefly view (while driving by) a gorgeous windmill and the barns (the estate was a working farm for most of the time Wright lived there).

The first stop was Hillside School. It was amazing. In a time when big fancy Victorian architecture was the "in" thing, he was inspired by Japanese temple architecture for the assembly hall. He built it with no weight bearing walls - the four great corner columns/pillars bear the weight. This let him put in tons of windows, so the building just seems to open up to the beautiful surrounding Wisconsin countryside. He somehow managed to put in perfect acoustics in the public areas of the school buildings. The theater was stunning, with the windows to let in natural light for afternoon music concerts, its acoustics, the comfortable (and beautiful) seats, and the curtain that was an abstract design of Taliesin overlooking the valley of the Wisconsin River. He played with the ceiling heights so that people would automatically move about the building to where they should be, rather than milling around in front of the doors and blocking traffic. And the architecture studio! An indoor forest, with the windows in the roof pouring in lovely light.

We then drove to the house, which was quite a contrast to the school. He built the school from the best available local materials, and finished them - ie. smoothed the stones in the wall, etc.

For his house he used shoddy local materials, and left them unfinished. He did this because he was always tinkering with the house. Apparently he would have his architecture students add on an addition, then rip it down and build something else in its place quite often. But the house was fascinating. Again, he played with the ceiling heights to "herd" his guests. The house was built on the crown of a hill, following the contours of the land. It had so much glass, it was really integrated into its surroundings. Again, the perfect acoustics for the public areas. Lots of work space and studio space, with lots of natural light. Lots of courtyard/patio areas with fountains with burbling water. Parts of the roof were so close to the ground a cat jumped right up on the roof and was trotting around.

It was amazing. The man was unquestionably a true genius.

 

another brutal night at work

This week at work is just awful. It is very busy and very stressful, and everyone is freaking out because the US Inspector General will dropping in to torment us next week. Last time they came by we got written up for having a spider web in a storage closet. They are far more picky than the dreaded JCAHO inspectors. Regular hospitals only need to worry about JCAHO inspections. We get both as a government hospital. Oh well, it does keep us on the straight and narrow, I suppose.

I am exhausted. I am hoping tomorrow night will be better, as the last night of the work week. But there is a scheduled computer down time for several hours, so it might end up being the worst night of all.

Ah well. Somehow I will muddle through. Time for a quick journal entry about Taliesin, and maybe if I can stay awake long enough another about the Crane Foundation, then a hot shower and bed.

One more night! I can do this!

 

computer is back! YAY!!!

Well, the computer is back, so that is great. Dan can get his billing out - hopefully in time for people to pay him before our August bills are due.

I am also happy because I can make more entries about our vacation while things are still somewhat fresh in my mind. Also, I got caught up on my emails, and several people sent me pictures which were nice to look at, and it was good hearing from people I have not heard from in awhile.

I'm pretty tired from work tonight, but hopefully I can talk about some of the great things we did in Wisconsin starting tomorrow.

this and that

Still no computer, though hopefully sometime this week...

We had a busy weekend. The fireworks were on Friday night. The kids didn't want to go, so Dan and I went by ourselves this year, sat watching the fireworks and holding hands. Though we live in a small town, they do put on a very nice show.

Yesterday was the last of the round of graduation parties for Bill's friends. The kids and I played horseshoes for the first time. We all sucked! Well, Steven did OK tossing with his left hand (even though he is right handed). Dan stayed later than we did - he did not get home until after one in the morning. But he had fun, and I got some quiet time to curl up in bed and read.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

We have been doing a lot of work in the house the last few days. We have been concentrating on the kids' rooms. We want to take everything out of the rooms and give them a good scrub down and stream clean the carpets. Then we will take Steven's broken, junky little kid bed to the dump and put Bill's nice bunk beds in there. We will then go get a double bed or a futon for Bill's room, which will be a guest room for the months he will be off at university. We are sorting out all of the clothes and organizing everything as we go, so it will be taking a couple of weeks. Eventually all of the out grown clothes will be going to a charity.

Dan and I both have to work tomorrow, on the holiday. We are hoping he can come home for an hour or so and we can have a nice lunch before I go to work tomorrow.

The computer is still being worked on. It is a massive pain in the butt, as Dan was doing a lot of his business via email!

The book with my poem in it has been printed. Most of the stories and poems in the book are brilliantly written. Mine does not deserve to be in such company!

Last night I got to talk to my dear friend John, who transferred out to the Las Vegas VA last month. It was so good to hear his voice! If you could pick your family, I would want him as my big brother!!!!!