Friends and a visit to Chicago.

This weekend, our friends David and Mary came to visit us from Ohio. We weren't sure they were going to be able to make it, but after a drive, two different trains and a ride in our car, they did. David is a former geography professor and Mary is a retired high school English teacher. I will also post a picture of Mary when I get those files.


While they were here, we went to Karina's Restaurant in Whitewater, which serves delicious Mexican food. David has a cousin in Lake Geneva, so we took a drive down there so he could visit her a bit. We also drove around the lake a bit to see some of the gorgeous houses, and stopped at Big Foot State Park. On the way home, we went to The Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago. Saturday night, we saw Mama Mia! What a fun movie!

On Sunday, David and Mary started for home and Kate and I decided to go the first part of the trip with them. So, we woke early and drove to Harvard IL to get the train there, which took us to the Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. From there, we went to another station, so they could take the South Shore Line back to South Bend IN, to get their car and head back to Ohio. No one had to drive in Chicago traffic... or pay tolls... AND on weekends, you can buy a ticket fon the Northwestern Line for five dollars and ride as much as you want on Saturday and Sunday. Plus, there is a family fare, so for every paying adult three (?) children can ride for free.


After having lunch with us, David and Mary boarded their train, while Kate and I headed out into the city for a brief adventure. First stop was Millennium Park. The silver sculpture is the Bean... though I am sure it has a more formal name... it is reflective so all the people were taking pictures of their reflections ...

Then we went to the large projected fountain in the park as well before heading off to The Art Institute of Chicago to see the Renaissance Art exhibits which had been closed the last two times Kate had been there for Art History field trips. We also saw some of the photography exhibits, the modern exhibit...including a pile of paper in the middle of a wall.. hm.

Here Kate models the gilded glove... beware. We ended the day with stop at Navy Pier where a tall ship was docked that Kate got to investigate. She took some pictures and talked to the crew about what it might be like to live like Jacky Faber... Bubba Gump's Shrimp for dinner... then onto the free tourist trolley and back to Ogilvie.. to catch the train back to Harvard.

A great visit with our friends and an amazing day in The Big City. :-) What a weekend.

Overtime...

As the summer progresses and school districts release their requisitions for the 2008-2009 school year, the orders roll into the company where Kate and I are working this summer. When the summer schedule began on June 23, they went from one shift to two.... and now have added an hour onto each of those shifts. Since we are on first shift, our additional hour gets added at the beginning of our shift, which means we now report at 6 a.m. Second shift has to work an hour longer, ending their "days" at 1:15 a.m.... Today was the first day of "overtime" which will continue this week and into next most likely. After that, we'll have to see.... Just a little early on the summer days.

So, we continue packing orders for many many places across the United States.... some items we pack are more unique than others. :-)

P.S. Happy Birthday, Alice!!!

AFOTS and other things..

That would be the 30th annual Art Fair on (and off) the Square.... Kate and I headed up to Mad-town fairly early this morning, to "beat the crowd" given the weather was borderline, with a big storm having just passed and gray skies still blanketing the area. While we did beat some people, I'm sure, there were plenty of people already walking around the Capital Square taking a look at all of the displays in the EZ-ups. Lots of beautiful things....

After we circled back around, we then walked down State Street, a favorite place, especially in the summer when there are plenty of people of all kinds, and visited some of our favorite shops, including Pop Deluxe! and the UW Bookstore. Noodles, Inc. for lunch and Coldstone Creamery for dessert.... delicious!
http://www.bus.wisc.edu/mba/experience/madison.asp Photo source

Then we did the East Wash route ... Target, the Mall, called to say hi to Molly before heading back home to take care of the doggies.

All in all, a great day, though my feet were feeling it by the time we got in the car to head home. :-)

Boxes - big and small....

For me, the goal at work is to make it through the day without getting a box returned to me for various reasons. Boxes can be returned for using the wrong box, not having a packing slip on the outside, if it weighs too much.... etc. Most days, that is not a problem... but every once in a while, I will miss the PSO.. "packing slip on the outside" or whatever... and it will come sliding back to me. What I hate the most is when that happens at about 8:30 in the morning. :-(

Addendum: I jinxed myself. The VERY next day... I got a package returned at 8:15 a.m. for being in the wrong box. :-(

I also have stopped measuring the "stuff" instead opting to look at the stuff and then the boxes, then... like a puzzle... fitting everything into the box..

Ok.. ok.. I know. Super exciting....

Just by chance...

On the way home from my parents' house, I happened to glance in a field that is known to have some wildlife of one kind or another in it.... and there they were.............

Photograph: Kate L. Barr

The firecracker that fizzled....53 years ago.

At that time, a family friend told Charlie's mom that if that baby didn't have the decency to be born on the Fourth of July, then she was going home (Gussie). So, Maggie brought her little boy into the world, albiet "that big head last," without the immediate support of her good friend, though am sure it came later. So, today we again celebrated this event with a round of minature golf http://www.vitense.com/miniature.asp

and dinner at TGIFridays .... complete with the "Happy Happy Birthday from all of us to you!! We wish it was our birthday so we could party, too!! " song and the "53" candles from home. I hope you had a good day, CB!

Kate is stealing my strawberry lemonade slushie.... :-(

The Fourth of July Ice Cream Social

Every year, the Hoard Historical Museum and Dairy Shrine in Fort Atkinson WI(http://www.hoardmuseum.org/page.asp?content=1.asp ) hosts a free ice cream social on the 4th of July. Even when the museum was undergoing extensive renovations, the museum still sponsored the ice cream social, though off-site. While some people make sure they have good seats for their favorite parade, or wait hours to reserve a site with the best view of the fireworks, it would not quite be the 4th of July without the flag proudly displayed on our house, and a visit to the museum's ice cream social.

Of course, after the sun went down, we did have the traditional "fireworks" display at our house as well. We also got to see some other fireworks being set off in the neighborhood, which I am sure were completely legal.

I hope everyone had a Happy (and safe) Fourth of July!

Summer

Summer is flying, as usual, and it is already the Fourth of July weekend. Ack! Summer has included various things over the years, swimming at the pool, teaching class, taking classes, playing in the yard, taking family vacations, going to Frostie Freeze, to name a few. Last summer, I decided to deliver Yellow Books, the directory that mysteriously appears on your doorstep. Kate came with me and we discovered backroads we didn't know existed, saw creatures we wish we hadn't, and generally determined it was not something we would like to repeat anytime soon.

This summer, the discussion of a summer job resurfaced. Since my school-year job was just that this year, I also needed/wanted to get a summer job, too. So, Kate and I applied for and got summer jobs at the same place, the warehouse of the art store in our town. Admittedly not the most exciting job on the planet, we are "packers"... not The Packers, because that, as people from Wisconsin know, is different. All of the "arty" orders.. and some health care stuff.. comes through this particular warehouse. After "pickers" gather the order from the shelves, they place it in a bin or on a cart, it gets inspected, then it comes to us for packing. So, we select an order, big or small, and prepare it for shipping. Today, I packed a single, metal pencil sharpener. Not the kind that you crank.. this one was about an inch by a half-inch long. Yesterday, the woman next to me spent most of the day packing a single order for a school district in California. It is also sort of a geography lesson....there is a town called... what?! Imagine living in that town... going to that high school... just what is their mascot?

So Kate and I get to work next or near to each other each day, Monday through Friday, discovering new places, and new products we want to order! :-) Good thing we are not working in the store, where we would basically have to endorse our paychecks to pay for all of the amazing things we see in the orders we pack.