Chicago Winter, Part II

We've had plenty of snow already, 20-something inches of it. But, just to make it more exciting the weather gods had to throw in some ice now. It appears the governor (nor the mayor) hasn't figured this salt thing out yet. After waiting for one bus for 10 minutes, I switched over to a different corner to attempt to catch a more "frequent" one. 20 minutes later and I was safely on a bus that proceeded to travel 5 miles an hour to the train. Freezing rain warning at midnight=salt trucks out at 4:00 am... Hmm, and they wonder why there have been over 100 accidents... From the Trib.

Chicago Winter, Part I

Since I can't seem to periodically update the blog, I'm making numerous entries at once. Please forgive my lack of blogging skills. In less than one week, we're experiencing our third winter "system." Even though I'm sure it's been worse up in Wisconsin, down here they don't quite understand how to deal with the shocking surprise that snow still sticks on roads. Unfortunately the weather doesn't wait around for Illinois to deal with the recession and the ability to afford salt. Well, I'm sure the Governor will get right on it....

The Puppies

Katie wanted to see new pictures of Booms, so here he is along with Buddy & Rob. I'm not sure if he's not enjoying the group hug or if he's just embarrassed to be seen with Rob in his robe.... But, at least his hair is growing back from the extreamly short shave he got after being one giant dread lock upon our return from Hawaii!

Gain Takes Over

This was the scene coming out of our laundry closet when we returned home yesterday after lunch with my aunt in the suburbs. To protect the innocent, I won't mention exactly how it happened...

Rob, allergic to marriage?

I must confess, at first I found it rather comical-so allergic to marriage am I that my very skin reacts adversely to a wedding band.  Six weeks later I'm no longer laughing as it doesn't appear to me that this is getting any better.

-Rob

One Month Later

Obviously, I'm not the best at keeping a blog updated. Oh well, we'll still give it a college try. We LOVED Hawaii, it was beautiful and just what the doctor ordered after the whirlwind of a wedding.

We stayed six nights in Maui before puddle jumping over to Oahu for another three nights before reality sunk in and we had to return to Chicago. The sunsets were beautiful even though Rob didn't think so nearly as much as I did.

We did all the "must dos" in Hawaii - Luau and a dinner cruise in addition to a submarine ride, a windy, bumpy, hilly road to Hana, and Pearl Harbor. And we're proud to report that we didn't buy a time share!!

The Road to Hana, excuse my lack of camera skills!






And then of course it was election night on Tuesday! I voted early, but Rob woke up bright and early to go do his civic duty with the rest of two Chicagoan precincts. After a shortage of felt tip pens, he successfully voted for Chicago's own. I was just impressed he actually was at the polls by 6:30 am! We watched the returns on the newest member of our family, Panasonic Miller, before heading out to Grant Park. In hindsight, we should have gone right to the park after work. (Not gonna lie, took some pics from the Trib, I think you can figure out which ones...)


Since Rob tells a story the best, and probably will never post on this blog until he finally succumbs to the pressure, here's his take on it from a previous rendition (please ignore his assertions that I saved the night):

"I think someone wanted to keep us from reaching the promised land where ticket holders frolic--conservative conspiracy? You be the judge...

After probably waiting about an hour too long before leaving for downtown, Stacey and I arrived at Grant Park only to learn that we needed to follow the "ticket holders line", which ran for about a mile down Michigan Avenue. I was discouraged and feeling rather unappreciated after telling myself and Stacey how special the ticket I received made me feel, but my dear wife forced me to press on, all the way from Congress Parkway to 11th Street South, where we began our deja vu trek back towards Obamaland.

When word of Virginia falling from Republican grace began to pepper its way through the crowd sparking cheers and jumps-of-joy; again it was Stacey who calmly hopped on the phone with her contacts in Virginia and she was the one who got to proudly announce to the jubilant crowd first of Virginia's shift, and then-she called the election for our section of the line.

And then. We ran. All of us, we ran forward towards the park stopping whenever a car would begin honking and cheering or we'd pass a party that had spilled onto the street so we could all cheer back. Before long we hit another mass of people in front of Grant Park where we forced our way forward as best we could until we met the "Security Force" that consisted of a distressed looking woman trying to keep the mass of unticketed people who were no longer being allowed into the park from pushing forward. A man cried out to me, asking if I would take his daughter in with my ticket-the little girl was crying, he was crying-Stacey again saved the day and pushed me forward and we found ourselves free of the mob.

And then. We ran. Again. This time hoping to get as close to the front as possible.

Alas, it wasn't in the cards as it seemed simply impossible to push through into the ticketed area, so I began to scan for higher ground. We wound up finding a perfect view of the podium from atop a grassy knoll behind the port-a-potties; hence the cryptic message.


The speech was amazing, to hear those words bounce off all corners of the park to the buildings of the Loop and back again gave me chills the likes of which I cannot even describe. And then it was over and we were rushing to get to the trains.

All in all, it was perfect-the second best night of my life. I'll never forget it."

The First One!

So, I wanted to make this first post in webdings, but decided not to. I somehow comvinced Rob to do this whole blog thing after 2 7/8 (wine) glasses of champagne. We'll see where this goes..... Anyway, we're off to Hawaii. We'll (maybe) post more when we get back. In case you were wondering, my 10:00 pm snack of choice :) mmm, fudge stripes.

Oh, and for the record, we got married on Saturday.