You'd probably think that I would be doing something more monumental at 10am on my first day of vacation, than downloading PDA apps and games. The Russian is still sleeping, the dogs are quiet, and I can't think of a single thing to do. Go figure.
Our snow is finally melted, I think we should be getting a little more tonight. I'd like to take this opportunity to clean up the yard a little bit more, but it's too wet. We had 2 giant oaks taken out during the first week of December, to make room for a concreted driveway to the Garage Mahal, finally. Hoping the workers can come first thing in the spring and get that poured. I'm lobbying for a heated driveway, but am not considering it a total victory just yet. I say...if you live here and deal with ice and snow, your driveway should be heated. I hear back...if you pay 30% more just to melt snow, you can have a snowblower for a lot less. Missing the point entirely, as I do not want to wait for a snowblower. I want to push a button and have a clear driveway. This can be done geothermally for a fraction of the cost, I'm sure. (hey...11/10 is still a fraction!)
Sucky week at work. I think I spent most of it tracking down projects instead of doing them, and the rest of the time figuring out what I did.
Christmas shopping is done. I just need to sweet talk Carlio into wrapping the last of his parents' gifts, and make a pie for his Dad, who cannot resist my pecan wares. :) We have cookies coming out the ears, and the fridge is almost completely empty, waiting for the grocery trek this afternoon.
So, here's my plan for my vacation: Day 1 (today) finish cleaning the house and fill up fridge. Day 2 church, rest of the day to be spent in sewing room. Day 3 DM comes in, we'll probably spend most of that day cooking. Day 4 Christmas with the fam. Day 5 Christmas with more fam. Day 6 darkroom day, get organized, process at least 2 rolls of film. This day will probably require a trip to the Photo Resource Center for supplies. I don't think Uncle Jimmy has had much luck at shows lately towards chemicals. Day 6 more sewing. I need to finish up a project for the Russian's mom. Day 7-11, no plans here yet. At some point I need to visit the local quilt shop and scour for new novelty prints. Maybe one other day in the darkroom. I'll have to re-light proof everything again, anyway. But I have new shelves! I finally got back a set that I made in Jr High shop, from the Russian. He was using them to store spray paint. I'm sure they could use a sprucing up, but I'm excited to have them back. :)
I really must get moving.
So I've been watching a Christmas Story again. I was doing really well and keeping myself otherwise occupied, and then we got stuck on the train for 8 hours Sunday and I just happened to have a copy with me (it was either that or watch the 2yo in front of me's Spongebob movie 14 times). Now, of course, I'm spouting lines right and left and there's probably no hope for it to stop anytime soon.
Yes, you heard that right, we were stuck on a 3 hour train ride for 8 hours. My Mom and I went to Chicago for the weekend for her birthday (surplise!!!), saw the Blue Man Group, the aquarium, and more of the Mile than we needed to. It snowed 10" while we were there, and we had a fantastic view of it from our hotel room (Hotel Monaco, really cute boutique). Anyway, everything was perfect until we got on the train to come home. I distinctly remember saying to my mother that the southbound train is habitually late, and it could be as late as 9pm before we got home (supposed to arrive at 5:15...this is the train that I *should* encounter every day on my way home from work, but it's always late).
We were 1.5 hours late leaving Union Station due to needing to meet a connecting train for other passengers...on a train that was overbooked. For those of you playing along at home, this means that the people we were waiting on were coming in on a train that was 6 hours late. They should have had 4 hours to putz around the station, etc. Instead they were shuffled onto another train with a horrid destiny, oh, and they didn't have seats available.
So we leave the station a little after 3, and are ALMOST to the Joliet station when we stop to wait on a Metra. No big deal, happens all the time. Right AFTER Joliet, the power went out. As in, no lights, no HEAT, no nothing. We creeped along until we got to Bloomington, where we sat on the tracks for an hour while the engineer tried to get the power to come back on. It did, we left. Well, it came back on for 15 minutes, and at that point we were stuck until Spfld. There was another nightmare with some free snacks they offered, but it's not worth ranting about at this point. We finally made it to SPI around 9:15. Train didn't leave SPI until 10pm (we live a block or two from the tracks outside of town, it's easy to hear).
Moral of the story, if it matters that you're on time, don't take Amtrak. Otherwise we had a great time! My Mom really liked the Blue People, as she calls them, and I was surprised to hear KLF music at the end of their performance. I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the audience who'd ever heard that song before. Rock on :)
Grant Park looked so different from the last time I saw it, but I found the hotel we'll be staying in next August for Lollapalooza. Need to make reservations soon.
I'm finishing up Christmas shopping tonight. I'm down to stocking stuffers and running out of ideas quick, so it shouldn't take long. I'm getting Wife of the Year awards from my coworkers on one of the Russian's gifts. I can't talk about it here, but I think he's really going to like it. I cracked up when I saw it.
2 more working days left this year for me. Ya-freakin-hoo.
Another ice storm on the way. We got hit over the weekend, but not too horribly, never lost power. I stayed home for the most part and did some baking.
Tonight is our company party, it starts when the ice is supposed to get here. After that there will be a mild sort of gutter crawl while we all go hang out at an ex-employee's garage. Hope we don't all just get stupid.
Anyway, Christmas plans creep along, I have a fun weekend planned coming up with my Mom for her birthday, and just this week and next week of work before I'm off until after the new year. I'm hoping to lock myself in my darkroom for at least a couple of days, and maybe get some sewing done as well.
I'm ready for Christmas vaca.