Thanksgiving Trip

Jeff and I spent the holiday in St. Louis visiting family. We drove down on Thursday and made it just in time for dinner. We left Sunday morning. In between we spent tons of time with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their adorable little guy. Here they are below. This is Jeff's younger brother's family. They hosted us this trip and did so wonderfully.

We did some shopping on Friday. Not much (I'm not a Black Friday fan) but trips to JoAnn's and Barnes and Noble made me happy. My sister-in-law wanted to make a couple fleece tie blankets as gifts. We managed to get the fabric and complete both blankets in one weekend. Here's my wonderful sister-in-law playing around in JoAnns.

Friday night we went to Jeff's older brother's house for dinner and some wonderful wine. My sister-in-law has introduced me to a number of great wines over the years and this night was no exception. I think between us, she and I must have drank a bottle and a half each. Great conversation, great food. A fun night.

Saturday we went to the zoo with my little brother and his fiancee. It was a bit cold out so the zoo was really quiet. But the animals were active and we made good use of the heated indoor houses. The bird house was Jeff's favorite, it was so quiet you could hear even the quietest birds call. We were the only ones in there for most of our time. The lions were playful and fun to watch. It was a great trip.

The weather was perfect the entire trip and it was great to see family. We don't get down to St. Louis near enough so it was nice to have a longer visit to catch up. We'll hopefully get back down in the spring. But it was a wonderful trip.

3 Weekends in 3 Paragraphs

I'm going to try to fill in the gaps of the last three weeks using only my weekends. My weeks have been nothing but work and writing but my weekends have been filled. The weekend of May 12th and 13th included the culmination of three years of very hard work for Jeff. He graduated as an actuary that weekend. To celebrate, Jeff's parents came in to visit. We spent Saturday at the Farmers Market, shopping, and then having dinner and playing games with my parents. Sunday was the graduation and then we spent the evening at my parents house to celebrate mother's day with both mothers. My parents cooked steaks and we had a wonderful feast. Both sets of parents, both of my sisters, and Jeff and I spent the rest of the afternoon eating, talking, and playing games. It was a fantastic weekend. I couldn't be prouder of Jeff. He's worked very hard in school and I was proud to see him walk across that stage.

Jeff's parents left Monday morning and on Friday morning Jeff and I jumped in the car to head south. My nephew Callen was celebrating his first birthday and his parents were throwing him a party. We got down to St. Louis just in time for dinner and then a movie with Jeff's parents. The next day was the party. There were quite a few people there, including some family I hadn't seen in awhile. They provided lunch and then cake. Callen got his own cake to destroy and eat. Below is one of my favorite pictures from the day, although the picture I got of the cake in his bellybutton is right up there. After cake we relaxed on the front lawn, talking and sitting in the shade. Callen wasn't terribly excited about opening presents so we helped out a bit. And then had dinner. It was one of the most relaxing afternoons I'd had in a while. The next day we had breakfast with everyone and then headed home.

This last weekend was of course the long holiday weekend. Friday night I left work for join my brother, his family, and my parents for dinner. We sat and chatted after dinner until late. The next day we met for some shopping and lunch on the patio at PF Chang's. While sitting there, a heron landed at the pond. We all had a wonderful lunch and then some book shopping (my favorite). After lunch we headed to my parent's house for nerf wars, sidewalk chalk, and fun. I have a blast playing with my nephews and niece. I got shot with nerf darts, started a pretend bakery with my niece, and decorated my parent's driveway. The next day was lunch at a taco place in town, then I went to the theaters with everyone to see Avengers. The movie was incredible. I loved the humor and the dialogue. Joss Whedon is a genius. It was one of the first action movies I've seen where the banter was not only good but actually overrode the action. It was hilarious. I hadn't been to a theater in years but this was worth seeing on the big screen. After dinner that night my brother and his family left to head home. I spent Monday reading and Tuesday at the golf course with Jeff. Four days of fun. I came back to work relaxed and refreshed. These last three weekends have been busy but wonderful. And those are my last three weekends. Trust me, my work week have been much less interesting.

On the Road Again

Thank god for free wireless at Panera!!!

I'm sitting in Panera in Kansas City waiting for Jeff to get done with the networking event that brought us down here. I accidentally left my book in the car along with my knitting. The only thing I grabbed in the rush to get him there on time was his computer. So here I sit, happily typing while watching the people go by. I have an hour and a half before he's done and I couldn't be happier. I have a coffee and a cookie, and life is good.

After this we're heading east, to St. Louis to see family for the weekend. We were last there in May and we both decided that it would be good to get into town sometime before the winter. Once winter hits, I get a lot more leery of traveling. And I've been missing my in-laws. It's time for a road trip.

Jeff and I used to travel a lot in the winter. In fact it seemed that the moment the snow started flying we started getting cabin fever and would head out of town. I've driven through blizzards and freezing rain. We've slid off roads and almost gotten stranded a couple of times. One trip back from Minneapolis, sent us back up to the Cities after they closed the Interstate. We even had one horrific five hour drive back from Iowa City where we had to use the rumble strips just to get some traction. We've traveled in the winter and sometimes paid the price.

But as I've gotten older, I've become a bit more cautious. I'm less likely to throw my bag in the car and head out of town when there is threat of snow. I'm not my old college self who would travel in anything. I check weather reports (some would say obsessively) and prepare for the worst. So this year I think we'll stay home this winter. After last year I'm still a bit gun shy of even walking on ice. Driving will be nerve-wracking. So we'll stay home and deal with cabin fever in other ways. Of course I say this now. We'll see what happens when the snow flies. Most likely we'll be back on the road again.

Not Quite All Here

I'm back. I had a fantastic weekend of visiting family in St. Louis and now I'm back. Kind of. We've actually been back in town since Monday night but I'm still not back up and running at full steam yet. The weekend was so fantastic and relaxing that I can't quite get back into my usual routine.

We traveled down to St. Louis on Friday and had dinner at Jeff's brother's house. It was a wonderful evening and we ended up staying until late. The next day Jeff and his dad and I headed out to The Magic House, a children's museum that I've been wanting to go to for years now. It was a interesting museum and even though we weren't exactly the target audience, we managed to spend three or so hours enjoying. The museum was busy but not so much so that we couldn't play with the exhibits ourselves. The evening was spent with ice cream (from local institution Ted Drewes) and dominoes with Jeff's parents.

On Sunday we were joined by Jeff's brother and his wife on a tour of the St. Louis Zoo (thanks for braving the heat guys). I love a good zoo and this one is one of the nicest free zoos in the country. I loved the new penguin house and the old-fashioned reptile house. But after about two hours, the sun and the crowds got to all of us and we escaped to find some beer and lunch. After lunch I ended up taking a long (3 hour) nap before getting up for a snack and more dominoes.

We drove home on Monday to a very happy kitty and a day of relaxing. My scheduled Monday off had fallen on Memorial Day so I was granted another day. Tuesday Jeff and I went out hiking and then did some grocery shopping. The evening was spent listening to the rain and watching old Phineas and Ferb episodes. A complete waste of a day but a wonderful one. So when the alarm clock went off this morning I was a bit unprepared to return to the real world. My work inbox was crammed with requests so I hadn't even found a moment to post. Thank god for lunch hour. Although I'm back in the office today, I'm still not all here. Five days off might be a little too much.

A Strange Disconnect

I'm not sure if I'm feeling proud or a bit ashamed when I say that I went the entire weekend without spending any real time on my computer. I read comics each morning but that was it. I never once checked email. I didn't read any of my blogs. I didn't even check Facebook. I was almost completely disconnected. And I have to admit that it was wonderful.

My in-laws arrived at 6ish on Friday night and we quickly went out to dinner. I had some amazing vegetarian sushi while everyone else had fish. Jeff's parents are Catholic so they were avoiding meat because of Lent (since when are fish not meat?). Then we just headed back to their hotel to watch UNI lose to Michigan State. :-( Oh well, can't win them all.

The next day we grabbed an earlyish breakfast and then drove them around the city a bit. They had been predicting rain all day so we stayed in for most of the afternoon. Jeff had two movies that he had to watch for his Reproductive Law class so we ended up watching one of those Saturday afternoon. We watched Waitress which wasn't a fantastic movie but did make me want to learn how to bake pies. That night we met my parents downtown for dinner and then went back to my parents house for an evening of cards and pie and talking. It was a nice night.

Sunday was an incredibly lazy day. After brunch Jeff's parents headed off and we went home. Jeff watched the second of his movies (Knocked Up) and I tried to ignore it. I think I got stupider just watching that film. I absolutely hated it. So I immersed myself in a book. I just started Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and could not put it down. It was one of those books where I walked to the kitchen to make dinner while still reading. I lay on the sofa for the rest of the day, just devouring the book. It was amazingly well written. I left it at home this morning so I wouldn't be tempted to read at work. It's that good.

So today I'm back at work after a late physical therapy session and am feeling a bit disconnected. I know that I'm addicted to my computer but it was nice to take some time to step away this weekend. I feel incredibly refreshed and even though I didn't get a ton done, I feel like a I didn't waste as much time this weekend. A fantastic weekend, relaxing and long. Now I just have to catch up.

Still Not Back in Reality

I'm still on vacation today so I've been a little slow posting anything. The day has been wasted reading webcomics and playing with the cat. Mostly this is because the weekend was just so wonderful. I'm not yet in the mood to do anything productive. So instead I'm sitting out on the front patio, enjoying the gorgeous weather and a good cup of coffee and remembering.

I took Friday off and Jeff and decided that we would do some shopping on the way down to St. Louis. There was no hurry. So we packed that morning and headed out about noon. We stopped in Williamsburg at the outlet mall and did some serious shopping for work clothes. I got a ton of cute clothing and had an enjoyable day. I was working to finish my knitted shawl (which didn't get done) and the miles were flying by. About Hannibal (an hour and a half outside of St. Louis) Jeff realized that we had forgotten our dress clothes at home. My dress and his suit for the wedding were hanging on the bedroom door. There were many bad words said and then we both collapsed into giggles. It just seemed so much like us to forget.

So when we arrived in St. Louis, Jeff dropped me off at the mall and headed to Mens Warehouse. He found a really nice suit and then went to the mall. I'd been searching all over and couldn't find anything I like. He took me to one store and picked out a great black dress. I'm still impressed with his sense of fashion. I tried it on and we both agreed that it was perfect. So at 9 we finally arrived at the hotel to see two busloads of high schoolers heading in. Jeff and I just looked at each other and groaned. It was a high school band. Luckily for us their parents were there as well and we didn't hear them at night. That night we hung out with Jeff's brother and the soon to be bride (along with some of their friends) at the hotel bar playing cards. At midnight there was the required Steak n Shake run but then we all headed to bed.

The day of the wedding was a great mix of sunny and cloudy but cold. I had bought a back-up shawl in Williamsburg which worked out perfectly. I had abandoned my knitted one after realizing that I didn't even have the dress. The wedding took place in the afternoon outdoors in a pretty little park. It was a small service but very sweet. Jeff's brother got choked up on the vows and couldn't speak. My nephew (he's 2) spent the whole service running around the park and trying to get into every picture he could. The bride wore this beautiful strapless dress but ended up with a shawl. It was freezing in the shade. After the wedding service, we headed back to the bride and groom's house so they could change and then to the restaurant for dinner. After dinner (which was wonderful) we headed out to a bar to watch football and play more cards. We stayed for a little while but neither of us was used to the smoke and it started bothering both of us. We were home by 11 and I was asleep by 11:30.

The next morning I was up really early and sat down in the lobby writing and watching the high schoolers leave. I was impressed by how little I had heard them. At 10 we had breakfast with his parents and the bride and groom and then headed out. I drove most of the drive home since Jeff was so tired and the time just flew. I don't remember the last time a trip in total went that quick. We had a wonderful time. We spent tons of time with his brother and (now) wife. We met some very nice friends of theirs. We hung out with my in-laws and got to be part of a very sweet wedding. Next they get married in Mexico which I'm looking forward to. Warm weather, sandy beaches, wonderful people. That weekend will be even better than this last one. But I'm still pretty relaxed.

Back and Feeling Invigorated

I'm a bit hyper today. I don't think it's the coffee I had this morning, or the fact that I'm a bit sleep deprived after the weekend but I keep jumping from topic to topic. I've started this post at least 10 times and the moved on to something else. The big thing is that I had a great weekend and am feeling like getting things done.

As I mentioned on Friday we headed down this weekend to St. Louis for a bridal shower. Jeff's brother is getting married and Jen, my sister-in-law, was throwing a shower for Jen, my soon-to-be sister-in-law. And if that isn't confusing enough my little brother, who lives in St. Louis, is also dating a Jen. It makes remembering names easy and figuring out who people are referring to hard.

We headed down south on Saturday and had dinner with everyone that evening. I helped Jeff's mom with a scanning project for the shower and finally hit the hotel about midnight. The next morning we were up early for breakfast and then headed over early to the shower to help set-up. The house was decorated beautifully and Jen (the current sister-in-law) had bought a ton of gorgeous pink roses that were all over the house. There ended up being a good number of people at the shower and I had a blast getting to see relatives I hadn't seen in a while and hanging out with family. After the shower ended, the boys came over and we grilled out. We got back to the hotel around 8 and I crashed. I drank too much red wine but the evening was a blast.

The next morning we had brunch with Jeff's parents and his brother's children since Grandma and Grandpa were babysitting. It was a very nice breakfast and when I asked Jeff what time it was, I was shocked to find out that it was after one. We headed out on the road quickly. In fact I think the car ride was just what we needed. Jeff and I had always been travelers. When we were dating we would do regular day trips and always had some fabulous conversation in the car. Since Jeff's started back to school I haven't seen him or had a chance to talk as much. This was a great chance for us to hang out and feel like a couple again. We got home at almost 9 last night. I should have been tired (7 hours in the car will do that to you) but instead I was energized. I cleaned and scrubbed the kitchen, reorganized the cabinets in the bathroom, and took care of unpacking the suitcase. I was in such a good mood that when bedtime came I was a bit disappointed. I'm hoping the energy holds over until tonight. But after a nice weekend, I might just relax a bit.

Poetry Friday

Sorry I didn't get a post done yesterday. I had great hopes for the day but then a friend of mine (thanks Carol) introduced me to the incredibly funny site It's Lovely, I'll Take It. The site finds some pretty unbelievable photos from real estate listings and posts them with a bit of commentary. Now I love looking at real estate listings. If I get a bit of time and don't know what to do with it, I'll randomly pick a city and look at the listings at Realtor.com. Maybe it's looking at the decorations, maybe it's me being snoopy, maybe it is just seeing what certain amounts can buy. But this is totally different. I truly can't believe what people will highlight as selling points of their house. Or how little people clean before listing their house. Now I won't say my house is clean, but don't you think it should be a little more presentable if you're trying to sell it. It's a great new blog find and I've got it bookmarked and am working my may through the archives. Hilarious.

I'll warn you, there won't be any posting this weekend. Everyone enjoy your long weekend. I'm heading south (Yay!) to St. Louis to see family and to attend a bridal shower. My brother-in-law is getting married this fall and I'm invited to a shower. And I'm actually pretty excited about it. We don't get down to St. Louis as often as we should and it will be a lot of fun to hang out with everyone. I'm blessed in that I enjoy hanging out with my in-laws. It should be a beautiful wedding and I'm excited to add my new sister-in-law. It should be an exciting fall.

That said I've been wracking my brains all morning trying to find a poem that would celebrate their upcoming marriage. I searched all the classical poets and only found cliches. I keep hunting through Brownings and Neruda and cummings with a hope of finding one. Then I realized that instead of old poets, I should go new. This is one of my favorite poets and one of my favorite poems about love.

San Antonio
by Naomi Shihab Nye


Tonight I lingered over your name,
the delicate assembly of vowels
a voice inside my head.
You were sleeping when I arrived.
I stood by your bed
and watched the sheets rise gently.
I knew what slant of light
would make you turn over.
It was then I felt
the highways slide out of my hands.
I remembered the old men
in the west side cafe,
dealing dominoes like magical charms.
It was then I knew,
like a woman looking backward,
I could not leave you,
or find anyone I loved more.

Meet Me in St. Louis

There is nothing quite like 20 hours of driving in a seven day period. Particularly spread out through two weekends. And although I'm looking forward to a weekend at home this coming weekend, I wouldn't have traded this past weekend for anything. We had a blast in St. Louis. We also sweated quite a bit.

I took Friday off with the idea that we would get down to St. Louis early enough to have dinner with Jeff's parents. The drive was great, somehow seeming shorter than the drive to Minneapolis last weekend. We headed down the Avenue of the Saints (my new favorite route) and wound up in St. Louis about 5:30. Perfect...well kinda perfect. We did hit rush hour. So we left 270 and took local roads down to his parent's house. I got to see a section of the city I'd never seen and also check out some incredibly cool houses in the Kirkwood area.

We went out for a nice Italian dinner and then wandered down to a park in Webster Grove (even more amazingly cool houses) to sign up for a study that is going on. Jeff's dad had wanted to volunteer for a long-term cancer study going on. Jeff ended up signing up as well and we hung out at the park watching the walk-a-thon for a bit. I couldn't sign up since so many women had already volunteered. Then we headed to Ted Drewes for custard and then home. I was exhausted and in bed before 11.

Saturday was listed as one of the hottest days of the year. The temp was expected to hit 99 and the heat index 110. So what did we do...went to the ballgame. We had tickets already for the Cardinals-Twins game at Busch Stadium, and we weren't going to let a little heat stop us. Talk about different ballgames. Last weekend I was in jeans watching baseball in the AC at the Metrodome. This week in t-shirt and shorts and sweating constantly. But I'm glad we went. I got to see Albert Pujols hit two homeruns and make an incredible first-base grab that ended up as one of the top plays on Sports Center. I got to see the only Cardinals win of the series and more than anything I got to hang out with family for the game. Jeff, Jeff's dad, his younger brother and I stayed for the whole game. All the way until the temp hit 99. His older brother, his wife, and their two kids stayed until the 7th which in itself was an amazing feat. The kids were great and everyone had an amazing time.

Here is Jeff's family who were able to attend the game.

Here is the stadium. 

And here is Pujols the moment after hitting his first two run homerun of the game. He hit two, two run homers before they started intentionally walking him. 

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with family at each of the different houses. I got to meet Jeff's younger brother's new dog, they have two, and it made me think about getting a house and a dog. The puppies were a ton of fun and so pretty. I love my cat but I wouldn't mind a dog too. It was strange to be at his parent's house this trip since their big beautiful dog Blitz had to be put down this year. I guess I kind of expected the polar bear of a dog to be waiting for us.

On Sunday we hung out and slept late and then had lunch with his younger brother and his fiance at one of the local grills. It was great to get a chance to see everyone over the weekend although I didn't take near enough pictures.

The drive back was good and quick and the rest of the evening was productive. I avoided the computer and managed to get a lot of cleaning and laundry done. I'm trying hard to make the house cleaner. But the trip was fantastic. Two weekends, two trips, both tons of fun.

Where's Waldo for Adults

I'm sorry I didn't get any posting done over the weekend. While I normally don't post both days I do try to get at least something out. My in-laws were in town this weekend so I didn't really have much time to just sit and compose. Instead I introduced Jeff's parents to the Wii and they became hooked. We spent most of the weekend bowling, playing Wii baseball, or cruising around the track playing MarioKart. It was a ton of fun. I also ate way too much and slept way too little. I'm looking forward to a weekend where I don't have to set an alarm. :-)

Then yesterday was my father's birthday. We ended up at one of my favorite Indian restaurants and I got a very tasty goat curry. Mmmm. Then back to my parent's house to make a fire, drink coffee, and play Trivial Pursuit. All and all a very nice afternoon.

So by now you're wondering about the title. Where's the "Where's Waldo" part of the post? You're wondering why anyone would care about my in-laws visit and father birthday. Well you wouldn't but you may be interested in the game we bought this week. While we were visiting friends in Minneapolis, they introduced us to this toy. And we had to go buy one.

The Find It Games are addictive. This long tube of plastic bits is filled with objects that you are required to find. We bought the sports version. There is a little football, baseball, ice axe, polo club, balance beam, hiking boot, etc....to name a few. In order to win you have to find everything. And that includes the very elusive penny.

Each game includes one penny. You have to find the penny and then you can sign onto their site and register it. You'll have to know what year it is and you'll have to provide your game number. Jeff has already found our penny, but I'm still looking. I was honestly shocked at how hard these games are. Some items emerge from the plastic bits more frequently then others. Jeff and I are still looking (after a week) for the swimsuit. The game comes with a cross of sheet that lists every item included.

They have a couple different kinds and each has unique items to be found. I want the zoo one although it is out of stock. Our friends have the kids version (which is still not easy) and are looking to buy the beach version. I picked mine up from Barnes and Noble which only had the sports one. I'll have to start ordering online. For $20 they are hours of entertainment.

Happy Thanksgiving all

It's Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. No commercialism, no high pressure shopping, just eating. One of my favorite things to do. I'll be away from my computer for the next four days visiting my in-laws in St. Louis. So no new posts for a bit. Everyone enjoy the time with your families. Relax, eat a lot, and we'll see you after the holidays. Happy Thanksgiving all.