Boy, Am I Lazy!
I had no idea that I had let almost a month pass since I last posted. Blame it on laziness if you like, but I prefer to simply say that I have been busy. I think that a brief recap of what has been going on in my life over the past month is in order.
For Thanksgiving, I went to my Grandma Lieb’s, which is only about two and a half hours away since I am in Chicago. This actually was my first time that I made the trip to a relative’s by my self. Anyway, I had a good time even though it was freezing that weekend. This Thanksgiving was extra special because, for the first time (I believe), we had the entire family there from my dad’s side. When your grandma lives in Illinois, an uncle in Dallas, an aunt in Iowa, and us in Ohio, things like this can be somewhat difficult. However, they aren’t the ones that really made the day special. It was the presence of my uncle’s family that live no more than half of an hour away! Let’s just say that a little bit of tension exists between his wife and the rest of our family. Thanksgiving day was the best having everyone there. We went on a hike in the woods and got to hear lots of great stories form my uncles and my dad. While I was at my grandma’s, we also took a few evenings to look at some old slides. Boy, were some of them funny. We even ran across some from my grandparent’s honeymoon! I hope that I can have stories like that to tell my kids and grand kids in the future.
The next weekend, my fried CJ from high school came to visit me here in Chicago. That weekend still has me confused. I am normally a great driver when it comes to getting places. That weekend I must have at least quadrupled my time being lost behind the wheel. I think that it was the pressure of having someone else there that was depending on you to get them there. For example, I had to drive all the way around Midway just to find the parking garage simply because I freaked out when I thought that I had missed my exit and took another way. When I left the airport, I turned the wrong direction, so instead of heading back toward the interstate, I ended up in a truck yard.
Anyway, CJ’s flight from Port Columbus got delayed because the flight before him had a mechanical difficulty and ended up taking his plane to St. Louis. Even then, I barely got to Midway in time to get CJ (see above for a reason why). We stayed up until 1 o’clock in the morning making our itinerary for Saturday. We ended up settling on five places: the Ba’hai Temple, the Hancock Observatory, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Navy Pier, and the Shedd Aquarium.
The Ba’hai Temple was amazing. It is one of eight or so temples of this religion in the world. According to CJ (the religion major of the group), the Ba’hai are a pluralist religion. They have no formal worship services and he believes that they have to make a yearly pilgrimage to one of the temples.
Next up was the Hancock Observatory, perched upon the top of the Hancock Center. I believe that it is the second highest point in Chicago next to the Sears Tower. The parking garage was interesting in the fact that it was totally enclosed. It even had garage doors! We took the express elevator to the observatory, which is actually the fastest elevator in the world, moving at around 20mph. The view from the top was amazing. They even had an open air walkway (which was quite cold, being December). When we got back to the ground, we got some pictures of the Hancock Center, to give a sense of size. We then took a quick walk over the the Museum of Contemporary Art. CJ was right when he said that I would look at a lot of things in there and wonder why they were even in a museum. I think that I could have produced better art than some of what I saw back in elementary school. All I would have needed was a snazzy title like "A Study of Motion Using Lines and Curves" and I could have gotten a stick figure in there. They did have some interesting pieces, but when one of your permanent displays is a room with pink and yellow florescent lights, you have to start considering the credibility of the institution, or even the art form itself.
Next up was Navy Pier. We really didn’t see much there, but that could very easily be because it was the winter, so all of the fun pier stuff was closed. After that, we continued down the lake shore to the museum campus to see the Shedd Aquarium. They had some interesting stuff there, but the most entertaining part was probably watching the beluga whales be fed. Ok, it was actually watching the tricks that they would do to get fed. I got some movie clips of the tricks on my camera.
We decided to go to the original Pizzeria Uno for supper. They had a very unique way of taking reservations: when you put your name on the list, you also place your order. Added pressure, sure, but a smart idea, nonetheless. While we were waiting to be seated (we were outside since the inside waiting area was full), a guy busted out his sax on a nearby street corner and started playing Christmas tunes. My pictures of him were horrible. Anyway, the pizza was great. What more can you expect of a pizza that has to be over an inch thick, most of it topping? When we finished up, we decided to go walk the Magnificent Mile, otherwise known as Michigan Ave. On our way back to the parking garage to drop off our leftovers, we got hit up for the leftovers by some guy on the street. After we dropped the leftovers in my car, we were approached my a guy who offered to shine our shoes. One problem: I had on tennis shoes and CJ had leather shoes. Not exactly what you normally shine. By the time we made it out to the Magnificent Mile, the snow started coming down. By the time we decided to turn around and go back to the car, the snow was blowing enough that we had to shield our eyes from the snow.
The drive home was uneventful, save for the snow. The next morning, I gave CJ a ride back to Midway so he could fly back home. For once, I didn’t get lost or require directions to get me going in the right direction. Instead, I followed the road signs. It’s amazing how helpful they can be.
Since that weekend, I have been getting introduced to a Chicago winter. I seems like it snows almost every day. Talk about a change from Ohio, where we are lucky to have a white Christmas. I’ll just be happy if the snow can stay away for the next couple of weeks until I am back in Ohio.
This coming week is my last week of work for the quarter. On next Saturday morning, I am going to fly down to my Grandma Pat’s in Mississippi to celebrate Christmas and her 80th birthday. We’ll have my mom’s entire family together for the first time since the Christmas of 1995 when we all got together in Heath for my grandma’s 70th birthday. This is going to turn out to be a landmark year for me. Never before have I taken part in two family get-togethers where the entire family was present. I’ll be on a busy schedule while I am down there, but it will all be worth it. I’ll get back to Chicago on the 29th and drive home on the 30th. If I drive fast enough, I will even be able to make it back to Newark in time to catch a swim meet.