Chicken in the WHAT?

Ugh, I've neglected my blog for over a week and have much to write about.  School's out, Mother Nature has finally figured out it's summer, we celebrated a birthday, and we went on an amazing River Cruise around Chicago. 

May 24 is a special day in our household (Scott's birthday), and it was made even more special by the fact that our good friend Melisa celebrated her book launch on a Chicago river cruise.  After six years of research, she finally released her travel guide for families of tweens and teens.  After reading the book, I think that any age can appreciate the book.


The title of the book, Chicken in the Car and the Car Won't Go, is from an old folk poem? song? that starts out like this:  Chicken in the car and the car won't go; that's how you spell Chicago.  According to Melisa, her mom used to recite that to her and her sister when they were children.

Melisa wrote the book and it was a total family affair.  Her sister Julie took the author picture and her older son did the graphic work on the cover. 

Melisa's sister Julie, photographer extraordinaire

Our boys from left:  Nick, Melisa's younger son, her older son

My family and I drove up to the suburbs to meet them at their house to follow them into the city and to help carry things onto the boat.  I thought that since it was late afternoon the traffic wouldn't be very congested.  I'm naive.  Scott did a great job staying right with them, though, which can be nerve wracking when you're in city traffic.  It's a good thing he was driving.  He knows how to keep his cool, especially when you have three teen aged boys and one wife talking constantly.  ;)

driving into the city

We found a parking garage very close to the pizza place where we were to get the food for the cruise.  We met Jim, Melisa and Julie (Melisa's mom was waiting at the pier with the various accoutrement).  Scott was to go with Jim to pick up the pizza, but Melisa warned him that he shouldn't be around the bad karma in that vehicle on his birthday.  So, Jim, one of their boys, and Julie got the pizza and the rest of us walked to the pier.  I'm not going to lie, it got a bit hairy as we were taking wrong turns and having a bit of difficulty finding our way there. 

finally at the pier with a view of the Chicago flag, Illinois flag, and the US flag

 BUT, in the end, it was all good, we made it in plenty of time and as soon as the boat pulled in, we were able to board and set things up.

A few important people in Melisa's life were unable to come, including her father who was stuck in TN dealing with issues at his hotel, but she made a special extension of her name tag to honor them.


We enjoyed Chicago style deep dish pizza, along with other Chicago based specialities.

We cruised around Navy Pier...

and up and down the river and had amazing views of the city...





We had a fabulous time on the boat.  After the cruise, we loaded their SUV and were set to meet them at their house (because we had their boys with us!)  Hmmm, this is where it got interesting.  It was cold for May.  I had on sandals (bad idea) and no jacket.  Chicago is windy (duh) and we were walking all over the place trying to find that stupid parking garage.  We knew the intersection where it was located, the trick was to find one of the streets of the intersection.  Finally, I decided that we needed to go into a restaurant to get directions.  Sound familiar?  And, as luck would have it, we were 2 blocks from one of the streets and then another 2 blocks from that intersection.  YAY!

We got the boys home around 11:30ish and then drove the 1 1/2 hours back down here to Farm Country.  It was a wonderful day, and words can't describe how happy, proud, excited we are for our friend!

Melisa, you rock!

The Time Shopping Saved the Day!

One of the great things of living here in Farm Country is the ability to enjoy living in a small town while having a major city within driving distance. I grew up in a small town in Northern WV that was 45 minutes away from Pittsburgh. I've been to the symphony, ballet, zoo, concerts, baseball games, etc. in Pittsburgh, but it was always wonderful to go back home to our small town. (and when I say small....I mean small!)

When we moved here, we knew we wanted to find a house in a small town. Many people who worked for the same company questioned our reasoning for wanting to live in a town with a prison. Doesn't faze us one bit. In fact, we have a state police headquarters, sheriff's police headquarters and the local police all in one area. Pretty safe small town.

About 6 months after we moved here, our friends who live in the suburbs asked us if we wanted to go to Chicago to see a Broadway play. I was all over that idea! The Man? Not so much. He's not really interested in musicals. However, after Jim begged him, I mean... talked him into it, and after the promise of dinner at The Butcher Shop (now closed, sadly)....mmmmm MEAT....he finally agreed.

So, The Man and I drove to the suburbs and the four of us took the Metra into the city. We got to Union Station early, so we decided to sit and have coffee (Jim and Me), hot cocoa (Melisa), and espresso (The Man). So, we're sitting and talking and people watching, while some Asian woman working in a kiosk is yelling at The Man, "HEY Yummy Yummy!"..... when out of the blue......The Man spills his espresso all over his shirt and pants. He was wearing a dark blue button-down shirt, a tie that had browns and blues (like watercolor), and khaki Dockers. OH NO! We all look at each other......Jim is thinking, "Our day is ruined!" Melisa is checking to make sure he didn't get burned. I yell, "I know! Let's go shopping!" I am such a thoughtful and caring wife! Seriously, I do know that he would never be comfortable walking around with espresso stains on his clothing, so I am thoughtful! ;)

We quickly hail a cab and it was so fun to say, "To Michigan Avenue!" We ended up at Eddie Bauer. The Man grabbed a blue shirt, a pair of khaki pants (thankfully his tie was watercolorish, so you couldn't tell it had espresso on it) and he told the clerk, I'm going to go put these on, take off the tags, and bring the tags to you to ring up. She was a-okay with that. He came out of the fitting room wearing his new duds, asked for a bag for his ruined clothes (that I was able to later get the stains out) and handed the tags to the clerk so that he could pay. She said, "What about the tags for that leather coat?" We looked around....."well, since you don't sell leather coats and this one belongs to me, I don't have a tag!" She wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box and it took her awhile to 'get it.' He finally had to show her the tag inside the coat that said 'Wilson's Leather' on it. Yeah....she finally 'got it.'

After the coffee fiasco and the impromptu shopping trip, we had to hurry to our dinner reservation. We decided to walk (bad idea), so by the time we got to the restaurant, Melisa and I had blisters on our feet and we were miserable. However, dinner was wonderful and we had a good time in spite of the blisters. After dinner, we decided to take a cab to the theater since our feet were killing us. No. More. Walking.

We got to the theater and I was so impressed! The play, Ragtime, was playing at the Ford Oriental Theater. What a gorgeous venue! We settled into our seats and we were transformed to NYC at the turn of the 20th century. I don't remember much about the show, I just remember crying when it was over. I. loved. it. so. much!

After taking another cab to Union Station, and then the Metra back to the 'burbs, we were exhausted. We still had another 1.5 hours to drive back home, but it was so worth it! That was the first of many trips we've made to 'the city' for dinner, shows, touring, etc. We love visiting Chicago, but our favorite part is always coming back home!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

I just had a short IM conversation with my dear mother-in-law. She said that they are going to renew their lease for another year at the beach!

That means more of this


And this

Can you smell that intoxicating ocean air? mmmmmm.....

And even these annoying critters

I love the beach! It sure beats the heck out of the soybeans and corn that grow in my back yard! ;)

The Great PW Book Signing

I have read blogs for a number of years, but have never had the courage to start my own, until now. One of my favorites is The Pioneer Woman. She has become quite popular and has written a cookbook, been on talk shows, and even went on a book signing tour at the end of last year.

A few of my friends and I decided that we HAD to see her in person. So, when we found out she was going to be in Skokie, IL, which is about 2 hours North of Farm Country, we decided to go and meet her! YAY! And, if we were lucky, maybe we'd get to meet Marlboro Man and some of the Punks.

We started out in Farm Country...that includes wind farms....


Made our way through Chicagoland traffic.....


....and finally got there around 6pm. We got our numbers to see her and we waited and waited and waited. Finally, the time came and Ree appeared and had a question and answer session before the book signing.


Once the Q&A session was over, we took our places in line (up the stairs and into the balcony of the book store) and started to entertain ourselves while waiting.

Here is Cheryl...


Brooke taking a picture of me taking a picture of her...


Brooke and Cheryl people watching...


Becky and I still waiting...


And then, finally, around 10:30pm, we made it to the front of the line! Here is sweet Cheryl chatting with Ree.

This may have been when Cheryl admitted that she was there to see Marlboro Man and PDub told her to stay away from her man! ;)

Brooke....she was so nervous and when PW told her that she loved her hair, she got verklempt and smiled and nodded...


Then, it was MY turn. Ay yi yi....I suddenly got diarrhea of the mouth and wouldn't. shut. up. I think in the short amount of time that I sat there while she signed my 5 books, I told her my entire life story. Imagine ME talking like that? Hard to believe, right? Right.

A member of the B&N staff took many pictures of the two of us (with my camera) and this is the
only picture that I didn't have my mouth open. Seriously.

Next in line was Becky. I only got pictures from her from the back (sorry, Becky!) I was visiting with Marlboro Man and...well....that's my story and I'm sticking to it.


Marlboro Man was a great sport. He signed all of our books and even had his picture taken with the four of us.


They even gave away t-shirts to everyone. How sweet! Here is my book, signed by PDub, proving I AM her biggest fan. ;)


It was a great trip. We got back to Farm Country at 2am and had to be back to work bright and early the next morning. We were dragging quite a bit, but it was worth it!

The best part? Spending time with my friends!