It's almost 5 here and still over 100. I'm going to stay a little later and finish some stuff up. It's too hot to ride right now.
I'll probably go out about 7. It's 90 now.
Becky
We've set four or five record lows already this month. It got down to 41 degrees early Saturday morning. My mom's husband works seasonally up in northern Wisconsin. He said they had frost three days last week.
I wasn't here, though, for that record low. I went down to Chicago for the weekend to visit my friend. :o)
Friday was my birthday. I came in to the office in the morning and had bagels and donuts in my honor. :o) Worked 1/2 day, and took the afternoon off. I headed down to Chicago around 2:00, but got detoured due to a major accident by the Butte des Morts bridge in Oshkosh. The driver of a semi apparently had a medical problem or fell asleep at the wheel. The truck crossed the median and both lanes of traffic on the other side before going off the bridge and into the lake. Hwy 41 was closed in both directions for over five hours! My detour put me in Milwaukee for early rush hour, so I didn't get to Stacy's until 5:30. When I arrived, she greeted me with a balloon bouquet (awww...). Stacy owns a condominium in Deerfield, within walking distance of a "city center" plaza with lots of restaurants and shops. She took me out for dinner to a wonderful restaurant for my birthday. After, we went back to her place, and I showed her the video I had made of Adrienne's birthday party, as well as of my house and the kids playing the weekend before. We then watched the movie "Before Sunrise". Stacy wants to see the sequel, but had never seen the original, and I have it on VHS, so I brought it down with me.
Being the honorable gentleman that I am :o), I slept on the couch. We got up around 6:30 Saturday, had coffee and got ready for the day. We left around 8:30 and walked down to the plaza. Every Saturday morning during the summer through October they have a farmers' market. We browsed a bit and picked up some breakfast from one of the bakery vendors. We caught the 9:25 train downtown. We walked from Union Station to Millennium Park, just north of the Art Institute. After hanging out there for a while, we walked down to the lakeshore and north to Navy Pier. We had a "cheezborger" from Billy Goat Tavern, and then walked down to the end of the pier to watch the air show. The venue for the show technically is North Beach, but we could see it very well from Navy Pier. After watching the show for an hour or so, we caught a trolley to Michigan Ave., and browsed a few stores and an art museum. When it was time to head back, we walked back to Union Station to catch the 4:35 train. After getting back to Stacy's, she called some friends we were planning on meeting for dinner, and they came over. We had a drink, talked for a while, and then went out to eat. Afterwards, we caught the late showing of the movie "Collateral", with Tom Cruise. We got back to her place around 12:30 a.m. It was a full day! But it was soooooo beautiful outside -- clear, deep blue sky, dry, a light breeze, and low 70's -- a gorgeous day to spend outdoors!
We slept in Sunday morning, and just relaxed when we got up, read the newspaper and talked. Stacy made me breakfast. :o) Around 11:00 we drove to her school so she could give me the tour. Students were reporting today, so the school was open over the weekend so teachers could finish any last-minute preparation. There were a few other teachers there, so I had the chance to meet more of her friends. Nice place! Afterwards, we drove out to an art fair in Long Grove, and I found a few things for my house. I left at 3:20 p.m. to head back to Appleton, and got home at 5:50, exactly 2 1/2 hours to make the trip with light traffic. It is around 175 miles.
I have the kids Thursday through Sunday this week. Stacy and I are planning to get together next over the Labor Day weekend. I'm also invited to come down for dinner for Rosh Hashanah at her mom's on September 16th. Stacy's grandfather will be in town from Buffalo, so I'll get the chance to meet him, too.